A Study in the Process Modeling of the Startup of Fuel Cell/Gas Turbine Hybrid Systems

As energy demands increase and the associated costs increase with that demand, newer energy alternatives are becoming more important to society. Although not new, fuel cell technology is taking a lead role in the quest for a cleaner and competitive power generation system. High efficiencies on the order of 50% are now possible with stand-alone fuel cells. When coupled with a gas turbine, efficiencies of around 70% may be expected. However, the fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid has inherent problems of stability and unpredictable response to adverse transients that first must be addressed to make this technology viable. The National Energy Technology Laboratories (NETL) in Morgantown is involved in the development of such hybrid technology. This study details a process modeling approach based on a commercial modeling package, and is associated specifically with the NETL Hybrid Performance (HYPER) research effort. Simulation versus experimental test data are presented to validate the process model during the cold flow startup phase. The results provide insight into the transients of the system built at NETL.