SBIR-STTR Award

Large coal-fueled, central power generation plants based on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology can increase their overall efficiency by recycling a portion of the high temperature (e.g., 800-850°C) cathode air effluent back to the incoming cathode air stream. This project will develop a Foil Gas Bearing Supported High Temperature Cathode Recycle Blower to meet the needs of a nominal 5MWe SOFC-based proof-of-concept system. The proposed blower will be highly reliable and will have low cost. It will be efficient, high temperature capable, maintenance free, and oil contamination free. In Phase I, the blower will be designed to meet the specification of a SOFC manufacturer. In Phase II, the blower will be manufactured and tested in an actual fuel cell system.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
The new blower should improve the efficiency of SOFC-based, coal-fueled power generating stations, thereby reducing dependency on imported energy and lowering emissions.

Large multi-megawatt-size Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell power plants based on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells are being developed and planned for the near future. The efficiency of these plants can be improved by recycling part of the high temperature (800 °C to 850 °C) cathode air or anode gas effluent back to the system. In order to enable this recycling, this project will develop blowers that can handle high temperature gases; are reliable, energy efficient, and affordable; and will not contaminate the recycle gas with oil or grease. Phase I designed a high temperature cathode recycle blower supported by a foil gas bearing. The blower was designed such that it can be used dually, either as a cathode recycle blower or as an anode recycle blower. In Phase II the blower will be designed in detail, manufactured, and tested as both a cathode recycle and anode recycle blower.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
The new blower should provide high reliability, low operating cost, low life cycle cost, oil-free operation, high system efficiency, and maintenance free operation. In addition to the fuel cell application, the new blower should find use in other commercial applications (e.g., heat treating furnaces), where other blowers could not be used because of oil-contamination and temperature limitations