A modelling approach to assessing the feasibility of the integration of power stations with steam electrolysers

作者：Manage Mithila N; Sorensen Eva; Simons Stefaan; Brett Dan J L^*

来源：Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2014, 92(10): 1988-2005.

DOI：10.1016/j.cherd.2014.07.015

• Solid oxide electrolyser
• SOEC
• Power plant
• Hydrogen
• Energy
• Integrated system model

Hydrogen, combined with fuel cell technology, is an option for reducing our reliance on hydrocarbon-based fuels. Solid oxide electrolyser cells (SOECs) have been studied as a possible technology to produce hydrogen from steam. As the current global energy mix is heavily reliant on hydrocarbon-based fuels, utilising existing technologies such as coal fired power plants, combined with SOECs in an integrated system, may enable a path towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions as well as creating a way of introducing 'cleaner' fuel.
In this work, a steady state model of a SOEC was developed and used to assess the feasibility of using hot steam from a power plant as feed to a SOEC. The main objective was to study the ways of improving the SOEC efficiency. The most favourable feed for the SOEC was to extract steam prior to the intermediate pressure turbine, which showed SOEC efficiency improvement of 25% compared with conventional SOEC operation of heating water at 25 degrees C.
The thermoneutral point of 4644Am(-2) was shown to be a guide for assessing design and operation options with heat integration possibilities after this point. For scenarios of 7% steam extraction and a purely H-2 production plant, 250 MW (7500 kg h(-1)) and 290 MW (8700 kg h(-1)) H-2 can be produced with SOECs sized at 43,300 and 50,100 m(2), respectively.

• 出版日期2014-10