Argonne National Laboratory (ANL, Argonne, IL) has developed the General Computational Toolkit (GCTool) for designing, analyzing and comparing fuel cell systems and other power plant configurations. It is a PC-based, total-system fuel cell modeling software that incorporates proton-exchange membrane, solid-oxide, molten-carbonate and phosphoric-acid fuel cell types.
The program handles models of any level of sophistication and permits arbitrary flows, system/subsystem decomposition and system constraints. It also performs both steady-state and dynamic analyses, allows unlimited parameter sweeps, and performs constrained optimizations. The software has been used successfully in analyzing a variety of polymer-electrolyte fuel cell systems using different fuels, fuel-storage methods and fuel-processing techniques, including compressed hydrogen systems; metal hydride, glass microsphere and sponge-iron hydrogen storage systems; and fuel cell systems with reformers for methanol, natural gas and gasoline, using either partial-oxidation or steam reforming.
Pricing for purchases of multiple copies, or a site license, is available by contacting Paul Betten, Software Licensing Coordinator, at [email protected].
