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Evaluation of the power generation efficiency and the amount of CO 2 discharge from a microgrid using a fuel cell cascade system
Author(s) -
Obara Shin'ya
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.1819
Subject(s) - cascade , microgrid , electricity generation , power (physics) , fuel cells , environmental science , nuclear engineering , automotive engineering , electrical engineering , engineering , renewable energy , physics , chemical engineering , thermodynamics
SUMMARY 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. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.