A new design algorithm for modeling and comparative evaluation of compound regenerative fuel cell (RFC) systems

Subject Areas : environmental management

Hossein  Ghadamian ¹ (Assistant Proffessor, Faculty of Energy & Environment, Science & Research Branch, Islamic Azad University)
Farideh  Atabi ² (Assistant Proffessor, Faculty of Energy & Environment, Science & Research Branch, Islamic Azad University)
Hassnali  Ozgoli ³ (MSc., Faculty of Energy & Environment, Science & Research Branch, Islamic Azad University)

Received: 2007-05-05 Accepted : 2007-04-24 Published : 2009-09-23

Keywords: Regenerative fuel cell, modeling and integration, photovoltaic cells, electrolyze, power&#x0D, &#x0D, d, General Algebraic Modeling Sys,

Abstract :

The results of calculation, modeling and engineering design of RFCs reveal that energy carrier change, from electrical to cold chemical combustion in the fuel cell section, is considered as an internal energy production and significantly increases the produced energy intensity rate and the performance coefficient of the system. By connecting photovoltaic system to electrolyze/fuel cell units and using the energy produced in photovoltaic section, the internal energy generation for a multiple case system with 1 kW capacity will be 2.302 kW, and the energy produced in the RFC complex will increase so that the efficiency of the total integrated system will be 29.45%. In this article, the general performance of the system and its related sub-systems together with capacity studies has been investigated. Then, using electrolyze formulation, fuel cell, and photovoltaic cells separately, modeling has been carried out with non-linear algorithms, and system integration has been done with GAMS software. Also, a step-by-step approach to the calculation and engineering design of the RFC is presented.