Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory

Co-Generation Power Cycles

The growing energy demand which has led to depleting natural resources and increased pollution has made researchers look into ways to produce more power while consuming less of the natural resources available for consumption. The proposed research looks at the optimal simultaneous production of process heat and electricity (Cogeneration-Combined Cycle) from the same fuel source. This research aims at developing a practical approach at combining fuel cells with Combined Cycle Cogeneration plants as these are the most efficient power plants to date. Implementing a plant configuration which can even increase the efficiency by one percent amounts to a gain in millions of dollars.

The proposed plant is a combination of a fuel cell, gas turbine plant and steam turbine plant. The plant also consists of two process heaters where steam can be generated and used for heating building or industrial applications. The most interesting fact about the configuration is the ability of the plant to generate both the steam and the electricity from the same fuel input without any additional fuel as would have been required if all the plants where independent of each other.

The proposed plant uses synthetic gas generated from coal as a fuel source for a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) which generates direct current and heat. The unused fuel in the fuel cell along with its waste products is used to power a gas turbine. The high temperature of the exhaust gas from the gas turbine is used to drive the steam turbine and also generate some of the process steam which can be used for household or office heating (a.k.a. district heating).

There are already cogeneration plants in New Brunswick owned by pulp and paper industries which operate using black oil and biomass (biological material such as wood) as a fuel source. Incorporating fuel cells in any of these plants will go a long way in accommodating the growing energy in the province while increasing revenue generated by the company.