Evaluation of Methods for Thermal Management in a Coal-Based SOFC Turbine Hybrid Through Numerical Simulation
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Tucker, David↗
Engineering topics
Tucker, David
Publications and source records attributed to Tucker, David.
Preliminary Experimental Results of Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell Operation Using Hardware Simulation
A newly developed integrated gasification fuel cell (IGFC) hybrid system concept has been tested using the Hybrid Performance (Hyper) project hardware-based simulation facility at the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory. The cathode-loop hardware facility, previously connected to the real-time fuel cell model, was integrated with a real-time model of a gasifier of solid (biomass and fossil) fuel. The fuel cells are operated at the compressor delivery pressure, and they are fueled by an updraft atmospheric gasifier, through the syngas conditioning train for tar removal and syngas compression. The system was brought to steady state; then several perturbations in open loop (variable speed) and closed loop (constant speed) were performed in order to characterize the IGFC behavior. Coupled experiments and computations have shown the feasibility of relatively fast control of the plant as well as a possible mitigation strategy to reduce the thermal stress on the fuel cells as a consequence of load variation and change in gasifier operating conditions. Results also provided an insight into the different features of variable versus constant speed operation of the gas turbine section.
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS↗
Response Surfaces for Key Controlled Variables in a Hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell/Gas Turbine System
Hybrid generation systems have been extensively modeled as a first step toward the development of automatic controls for the system. In most cases, it is impossible to validate mathematical models against real hardware because only a handful of hardware systems exist in the world. Data taken from the existing hardware has demonstrated significant nonlinearity, complex coupling between controlled variables, and sometimes non-intuitive behavior. This work exploits the capability of the HyPer hardware test bed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to generate data from a real recuperated gas turbine coupled with hardware simulations of a fuel cell cathode and appropriate ancillary equipment. Prior work has characterized the system only over a limited range of its operating envelope, due to the inability to manipulate multiple control inputs simultaneously. The work presented here fills the gaps using data from a 34 factorial experiment to generate quasi-continuous response surfaces describing the operating state space of the HyPer system. Polynomial correlation functions have been fitted to the data with excellent agreement. Relationships between the control inputs and critical state variables such as cathode mass flow, cathode temperature, turbine inlet and exhaust temperatures and other key system parameters are presented.
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
Control Valve Trajectories for SOFC Hybrid System Startup
Control and management of cathode airflow in a solid oxide fuel cell gas turbine hybrid power system was analyzed using the Hybrid Performance (HyPer) hardware simulation at the National Energy Technology (NETL), U.S. Department of Energy. This work delves into previously unexplored operating practices for HyPer, via simultaneous manipulation of bypass valves and the electric load on the generator. The work is preparatory to the development of a Multi-Input, Multi-Output (MIMO) controller for HyPer. A factorial design of experiments was conducted to acquire data for 81 different combinations of the manipulated variables, which consisted of three air flow control valves and the electric load on the turbine generator. From this data the response surface for the cathode airflow with respect to bypass valve positions was analyzed. Of particular interest is the control of airflow through the cathode during system startup and during large load swings. This paper presents an algorithm for controlling air mass flow through the cathode based on a modification of the steepest ascent method.
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
Adhesion and abrasion of surface materials in the Venusian aeolian environment
In laboratory simulations of the Venusian environment, rock and mineral 'target' surfaces struck by aeolian particles develop a thin layer of accretionary material derived from the particles' attrition debris. Accretion may be (in part) a manifestation of 'cold welding', a process well known in engineering, where bonding occurs between metals at a tribological interface. Accretion on geological materials was found to occur at all Venusian surface temperatures and for all types of materials tested. First-order variations in the amount deposited by particles are related to relative attrition susceptibilities. Second-order variations relate to properties of the particle-target interface. Variations in accretion volume are apparently independent of mineral chemistry and are only weakly dependent on crystallography. The results suggest that accretion should be a fairly universal phenomenon in areas of Venus subject to aeolian activity.
Marshall, John R.↗