Conceptual design of light integrated gasification fuel cell based on thermodynamic process simulation

Integration of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) in coal gasification power plant technology would be one of the most promising technology in the coal utilization for power generation. The clean syngas from gas cleanup unit serves as fuel for SOFC in integrated gasification fuel cell power plant. The heat generated by SOFC can be utilized by heat recovery steam generator to drive steam turbine for electricity production. In this study, proposed plants consisting of coal gasifier and SOFC on the top of a steam turbine (ST), called light integrated gasification fuel cell (L-IGFC), are investigated thermodynamically by using Aspen Plus software to evaluate their performance. The analyses are based on the SOFC module considering ohmic, activation and concentration losses at a certain current density of the cell operating at the intermediate temperature. The influences of gas cleanup unit models were also investigated. The results indicated that the proposed atmospheric L-IGFC plant could achieve electrical efficiency in the range of 39–46.35% in lower heating value.