In this paper, the influence of energy recuperation on the efficiency of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power system is studied with the GCTool software developed by the American Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The recuperative energies include partial recycled air exhausted from cathode side, recirculated fuel and steam from the anode side of the SOFC, and combustion gases from anode exhaust, individually. The methane is chosen as fuel, air is oxidant, and the pressure drops due to streams transported through the duct and components are taken into account in the power system. Full analysis of the state at each node of the system is conducted. The results show that, under the same setting, with an A/F of 4, a pre-reforming rate of 30%, and fuel utilization of 80%, the overall system efficiency is elevated from 50 to 68% in the case of recirculating partial fuel and steam from the anode exhaust of the SOFC. And, the configuration of diluted fuel recycled entirely from the outlet of the anode side of the SOFC is going to cause the overall efficiency to become the lowest in all cases in spite of reaching the highest electric efficiency of 41%. Recirculating partial air released from the outlet of the cathode side could provide extra heat to preheat inflow air, and the overall efficiency will be raised, apparently, as well.
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