Comparative Analysis of Conventional and Fuel Cell-Based Gas Turbine Power Plants

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a complete comparative, energy and 2nd low analyses between different types of fuel cells integrated with a gas turbine power plant. Different levels of modeling for the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and the integrated systems are to be presented. The overall system performance is analyzed by employing individual models and further applying energy and exergetic analyses for different configurations of gas turbine power cycles. The study includes applying different proposed methods and techniques to enhance the overall efficiency of the integrated cycle. After performing the complete technical management of the complete system, a comparative study between conventional and PEMFC and SOFC cycles is investigated to highlight the corresponding advantages and disadvantages of each system. The following systems are tested and evaluated: (a) Conventional Gas Turbine System with a combustion Chamber (b) Integrated SOFC Stack into a Gas Turbine System (c) The Proposed Integrated System with both SOFC and PEMFC.