Study of combined cycle of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with Micro Gas Turbines

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) present many advantages to generate electricity from natural gas, such as high efficiency, and little noise. However, the most important advantage of SOFC is its ability to operate at high temperatures. Their high operating temperature makes possible to use natural gas as fuel, so external hydrogen is not necessary for operation. In addition, in hybrid systems with cogeneration, the SOFC can be combined with micro gas turbine (MGT) to generate more power for the same amount of fuel. This cogeneration is interesting for power generation, from few kilowatts, for residences and commercial buildings, until megawatts as in plants for electric power generation, or industries. The study presented hear shows the increased efficiency when a MGT is integrated into the system to take advantage of exhaust gases of the SOFC.