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2014
Conference Paper
Titel
Development of a SOFC/battery-hybrid system for distributed power generation in India
Abstract
In recent years India faces demanding challenges in covering an aggressively increasing electricity consumption through economic growth and progressive consumer requirements. Renewable sources and small distributed power generators have been identified as one of the options to establish a diversified power supply infrastructure. The present situation offers promising opportunities for fuel cell systems, as ""grid-parity"" is not the common measure of competitiveness, but rather the installation speed and availability of reliable power sources. Contracted by the company Mayur REnergy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. based in Pune, India, Fraunhofer IKTS is currently developing a 1 kW(el) SOFC power generator during a three-year system engineering and technology transfer project. The fuel cell system is based on CFY stack technology by Plansee SE and IKTS, incorporating state-of-the-art ESC with Scandia-doped Zirconia electrolytes. CFY-stacks have proven to be robust and reliable, showing power degradation rates below 0.6 % per 1.000hours during endurance operation over 18.000 hours and a power decay of 5 % per 50near-system cycles under full RedOx-conditions. For the SOFC power generator a 50-cell CFY stack is integrated with a pre-reformer, a tail-gas oxidizer and heat exchangers into a HotBox-module following a novel concept for least-space-demanding reactor integration and flow distribution. Aside from compactness, a simple and robust, yet highly efficient system concept is set as the primary development goal for the project. To meet this requirements, two major design decisions have been introduced in the process layout, i.e. a rated fuel utilization in the stack of 85 % as well as the recycling of exhaust gases and waste heat for the fuel pre-treatment. This approach leads to a waterless SOFC system with an estimated net electrical efficiency above 40 %.The HotBox-concept was validated in a pre-test by the end of April, 2014. In the next project phase two stand-alone prototype systems will be assembled and commissioned at IKTS until October 2014. A second, optimized prototype generation, capable of fully automated, unattended operation is scheduled to be available by mid of 2015. Based on the provided SOFC prototype systems and technology platform the product development and commercialization will be initiated by Mayur REnergy Solutions in India.
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