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In modern turboprop engines, reduction in emission and fuel consumption is the primary goals during the development of gas turbine aero engines. In this paper, a concept has been proposed for hybridizing the air blade cooled turboprop engines by integrating it with a fuel cell. The proposed study focuses on thermodynamic analysis of a turboprop engine integrated to a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system. A solid oxide fuel cell is the perfect candidate for utilizing waste heat available at turboprop engine exhaust, through recuperation process. Integration of SOFC is ultimately leads to enhancement the overall performance of the turboprop-SOFC hybrid system. Power generated by the SOFC system can be utilized by the aircraft and in can complement the auxillary-power-unit (APU) and may even supplement it. On the basis of 1st and 2nd law of thermodynamic modeling analysis of a turboprop-SOFC system has been presented in this article.

Automotive power packs have been the focus of research over a long period of time. Among various power packs when we consider internal combustion engines, there is an ample opportunity in developing systems that can make optimal utilization of all the energy streams related to the automotive engine. In this regard utilization of internal combustion engine exhaust waste heat and environmental pollution have been the focus of research in the recent past. About 35% of the automotive input fuel energy is converted to useful crankshaft work and about 30% energy is expelled with exhaust. This leaves about one-third (35%) of the total energy that must be transmitted from the enclosed cylinder through the cylinder walls and head to the surrounding. The exhausted energy from engine results in entropy elevation and solemn environmental pollution. So it is desired to utilize waste heat to the extent possible.