Evaluation of the power generation efficiency and the amount of CO_2 discharge from a microgrid using a fuel cell cascade system

摘要

The purpose of this study was to combine fuel cells with different operating temperatures into fuel cell cascade systems in order to analyze their power generation efficiency and environmental impact (CO_2 emissions). Nine fuel cell cascade systems were investigated by numerical analysis. We also proposed the use of these systems in microgrids. The power generation efficiency of a compound system containing a solid-oxide fuel cell, a micro-gas turbine, a reformer, and a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell showed great improvement compared with simplex operation of each component of the system. Moreover, a fuel cell cascade system can use alcohol fuels with low CO_2 emission factors. The fuel cell cascade systems tested showed that CO_2 emission reductions are possible.