Fuel cells are electrochemical devices (think of common batteries for comparison) which are able to convert chemical energy, stored inside a fuel, directly into electrical energy. The reaction on which their operation is based produces heat, which can be employed to enhance plant efficiency issues. We also remind that their toxic and polluting emissions are very low, or even absent. These devices are modular, and therefore ideal for distributed cogeneration of electric power and heat for different needs. The collaboration has been about an innovative hybrid power plant combining a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) stack with a gas microturbine. Activities have been carried on through two main lines: modeling and simulation of cell (and consequently stack) thermo-fluid-dynamical and electrochemical phenomena; design of different configurations for the plant industrial control system, in different ordinary and emergency operating conditions.
Theoretical investigations as well as validation by simulation are completed; the validation by means of experimental data is currently underway, both for the stack simulator and for the whole plant control system configurations.
The project is closed.