• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.18-20
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• 2008

An electrical balance of plant(EBOP) of a 600kW molten carbonate fuelcell (MCFC) has to transit from grid-connected(GC) mode to grid-independent(GI) mode when a grid is in a fault conditions. A minimum transition time is limited by four cycle for a 600kW MCFC to ride through a grid fault. In this paper, we propose a control algorithm of a 600kW EBOP for a MCFC system. The EBOP has three operation modes, i.e., GC mode, GI mode, and grid-synchronized(GS) mode. The EBOP controls output currents in a GC mode and regulates output voltages in GI or GS mode. GS mode is defined as an interface between GC mode and GI mode to make a mode transition smooth, i.e., limitation of inrush currents, regulation of output voltages within ANSI standard. Simulations and experiments carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.133-133
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• 2009

연료전지는 연료의 화학적 에너지를 전기화학 반응을 통하여 직접 전기로 변환하기 때문에 에너지 전환효율이 높고 공해물질을 배출하지 않는 환경친화적인 고효율 발전방식으로, 특히 용융탄산염 연료전지(MCFC) 및 고체산화물 연료전지(SOFC)같은 고온형 연료전지의 경우 분산전원이나 중앙집중발전 같은 발전용에 적합한 연료전지로 평가받고 있다. 현재 MCFC 및 SOFC등의 발전용 연료전지 시스템의 효율은 약 50% 정도이며, 시스템의 발전효율을 높이기 위한 여러 연구가 진행되고 있다. 그 중에서 고온의 배열을 이용하여 연료전지 발전시스템의 효율을 향상시키기 위해 FuelCell Energy, Ansaldo Fuel Cells 및 Simens Westinghouse 등에서 수백 kW급의 fuel cell - gas turbine hybrid system에 대한 상용화 수준의 실증연구가 진행되었다. 본 연구에서는 발전용 연료전지 시스템의 발전효율을 높이기 위한 방안 중 하나로 배열을 이용하여 steam을 발생시켜 air amplifier에 사용함으로써 연료전지 시스템의 MBOP(Mechanical Balance of Plant)중 전력을 소비하는 air blower를 대체하여, 시스템 효율을 향상시키고 시스템의 가용성을 높일 수 있는 설계안에 대하여 논하고자 한다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.26-31
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• 2014

High temperature fuel cell system, such as molten carbonate fuel cells(MCFC) and solid oxide fuel cells(SOFC), are capable of operating at MW rated power output. The power output change of high temperature fuel cell imposes the thermal and mechanical stresses on the fuel cell stack. To minimize the thermal-mechanical stresses on the stack and increase the systems reliability, we should divide the power plant configuration to several banks. However, the improvement of reliability in fuel cell power plant system causes an increase of the investment cost, for example, replacement costs, labor costs, and so on. For this reason - the balance between investment and reliability improvement - many studies about the appropriate level of investment have been conducted. In this paper, we evaluate the cost for operation and installation, the benefit for electric energy and thermal energy sales, and the system reliability for several cases : these cases relate with the bank configuration.

• Plant Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.42-45
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• 2019

The molten carbonate fuel cell has a high temperature of waste heat and can constitute a bottoming cycle to increase the efficiency. Previous study used a bottoming cycle as steam turbine cycle. In this study, we are going to replace the bottoming cycle with a supercritical carbon dioxide power cycle. The system power was compared to consider replacing the bottoming cycle. As a result, the power of the supercritical carbon dioxide power cycle at the present development stage is lower than that of the steam turbine cycle, but theoretically, the power can be larger than the steam turbine cycle. If the supercritical carbon dioxide power cycle improves the isentropic efficiency of the turbine by 89%, the isentropic efficiency of the compressor by 83%, and the effectiveness of the recuperator by 0.9, the power can be same to the steam turbine cycle.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.51-59
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• 2013

High temperature fuel cell system, such as molten carbonate fuel cells(MCFC) and solid oxide fuel cells(SOFC), are capable of operating at MW rated power output. The power output change of high temperature fuel cell imposes the thermal and mechanical stresses on the fuel cell stack. To minimize the thermal-mechanical stresses on the stack, increases in the power output of high temperature fuel cell typically must be made at a slow rate. So, the short time interruption of high temperature fuel cell causes considerable generated energy losses. Because of the characteristic of high temperature fuel cell, we analyzed the impact of electrical fault in the fuel cell plant on other fuel cell generators in the same plant site. A various grounding configuration and voltage sag are analyzed. Finally, we presented the solution to minimize the effect of fault on other fuel cell generators.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.234-236
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• 2009

EBOP(Electrical Balance of Plant)는 직류의 연료전지의 출력을 전력전자기술을 이용해 계통전원에 연계 가능한 교류로 변환해주는 일련의 시스템을 칭한다. 포스콘에서는 용융탄산염 연료 전지(Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell, MCFC)를 이용한 3MW 발전용 연료전지 EBOP 시스템을 개발하였으며, 국제규격(IEEE std.1547, UL1741)에 준하는 시험을 통해 성능검증을 완료함으로써 MW급 EBOP 시스템의 국산화에 성공하였다.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.2256-2261
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• 2015

In the power plant using high temperature fuel cells such as Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell(MCFC), and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell(SOFC), the generated electric power per area of power generation facilities is much higher than any other renewable energy sources. - High temperature fuel cell systems are capable of operating at MW rated power output. - It also has a feature that is short for length of the line for connecting the interior of the generation facilities. In normal condition, these points are advantages for voltage drops or power losses. However, in abnormal condition such as fault occurrence in electrical system, the fault currents are increased, because of the small impedance of the short length of power cable. Commonly, to minimize the thermal-mechanical stresses on the stack and increase the systems reliability, we divided the power plant configuration to several banks for parallel operation. However, when a fault occurs in the parallel operation system of power main transformer, the fault currents might exceed the interruption capacity of protective devices. In fact, although the internal voltage level of the fuel cell power plant is the voltage level of distribution systems, we should install the circuit breakers for transmission systems due to fault current. To resolve these problems, the SFCL has been studied as one of the noticeable devices. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of application of the SFCL on bus tie in a fuel cell power plants system using PSCAD/EMTDC.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.353-356
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• 2009

A pivotal mechanical balance of plant for 75kW class molten carbonate fuel cells comprise of a catalytic burner and an ejector which has been designed and tested in KEPRI(Korea Electric Power Research Institute). The catalytic burner, which oxidizes residual fuel in the anode tail gas, was operated at several conditions. Some problems arose due to local overheating or auto-ignition, which could limit the catalyst life. The catalytic burner was designed by considering both gas mixing and gas velocity. Test results showed that the temperature distribution is very uniform. In addition, an ejector is a fluid machinery to be utilized for mixing fluids, maintaining vacuum, and transporting them. The ejector is placed at mixing point between the anode off gas and the cathode off gas or the fresh air Several ejectors were designed and tested to form a suction on the fuel tail gas and balance the differential pressures between anode and cathode over a range of operating conditions. The tests showed that the design of the nozzle and throat played an important role in balancing the anode tail and cathode inlet gas pressures. The 75kW MCFC system built in our ejector and catalytic burner was successfully operated from Novembe, 2008 to April, 2009. It recorded the voltage of 104V at the current of 754A and reached the maximum generating power of 78.5kW DC. The results for both stand-alone and integration into another balance of plant are discussed.