Thermodynamic and Economic Optimization of a MCFC Power Generation Unit Coupled With Hydrogen Production

In this paper, a biogas fuelled power generation system is considered. The system is based on a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) stack integrated with a micro gas turbine for electricity generation, coupled with a pressure swing absorption system (PSA) for hydrogen production. The aim of this work is the optimal design of the system plant considering thermodynamic and economic objective functions. The procedure starts from system decomposition in two parts: the heat transfer network and the other components (in the following indicated as the “power components”). Design parameters are the pressure ratio, some operating temperatures and mass flow rates. For each set of the design parameters, the corresponding thermodynamic conditions of flows entering and exiting the power components are obtained. Then the heat flux recovered in the heat transfer network and the primary energy consumption are determined. Economic analysis is performed by considering function costs for the power components and a relation between the heat transfer network cost and the main energy requirements. The latter is obtained through analysis of a few heat transfer network configurations.