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MHI achieves Japan 's first SOFC-MGT combined-cycle power generation

  • August 04, 2006
  • News

Summary

Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 04, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has succeeded in verification testing of a combined-cycle power generation system incorporating two different types of power generation system: solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a micro gas turbine (MGT). The feat is unprecedented in Japan. MHI, under commission by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), has been developing the system since 2004, and the recent testing verified 75 kilowatts (kW) of power generation by the system at the company's Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works. Following this success, MHI now aims to start production of a 200 kW-class combined-cycle power generation system this October. The company will subsequently continue developing systems offering even larger capacities and higher efficiency, in a quest to eventually develop a system suitable for utility applications. The SOFC is a ceramic-based fuel cell that directly produces electricity by chemical reaction between oxygen in the air and hydrogen removed from city gas through reforming. The SOFC-MGT combined-cycle power generation system utilizes unreacted hydrogen contained in the city gas exhausted from the SOFC and hot air also discharged from the SOFC. The gas and air from the SOFC are used to drive an MGT to generate electricity. This two-stage power generation system achieved power generation efficiency above 50%, significantly higher than conventional power generation systems.As noted above, the configuration integrates two different types of power generation system: static chemical reaction equipment (SOFC) and dynamic machinery rotating at high speed (MGT). The two key technologies that enabled the SOFC-MGT combined-cycle system are 1) pressure control to organically combine these two different systems, and 2) stable combustion of low-calorie gas from the SOFC.With respect to pressure control, the pressures of the pressurized air sent to the SOFC and the city gas blown into the SOFC are kept at identical levels suitable for the given pressure conditions required for stable gas turbine operation. The pressure levels of both gas and air in the SOFC are required to be at the same level. For stable combustion of the low-calorie gas, MHI has developed and installed a combustor specifically for the SOFC-MGT power generation system, enabled by the company's technologies accumulated through its industrial- use gas turbines.MHI sees the large-scale SOFC combined-cycle power generation system as an effective way of reducing CO2 emissions alongside nuclear power generation and high-efficiency utility-use thermal power generation systems. As higher power generation efficiency is expected through combination of SOFCs and other power generation systems - 60 to 70% in combination with gas turbine combined-cycle (GTCC) systems for LNG and 55 to 60% with integrated coal gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) systems for coal, going forward MHI aims to further accelerate its effort to establish various technologies to enable realization of a combined-cycle power generation system integrating an SOFC and both gas and steam turbines.About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TSE: 7011, 'MHI'), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading heavy machinery manufacturers, with consolidated sales of 2,792 billion yen in fiscal 2005 (year ended March 31, 2006). MHI's diverse lineup of products and services encompasses shipbuilding, steel structures, power plants, chemical plants, environmental equipment, industrial and general machinery, aircraft, space rocketry and air-conditioning systems. Learn More

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