On the feasibility of on-farm biogas-to-electricity conversion: To what extent is solid oxide fuel cells durability a threat to break even the initial investment?

Despite their promising features, adverse economic feasibility still hamper SOFCs wide implementation and this effect is emphasized as long as the system size is reduced. According to previous investigations, the biogas pre-treatment section represents a burden for the economic viability. Aiming at reducing the extent of installation costs in SOFC-based configurations, biogas partial upgrading through CO₂ gas-separation membranes is put forth as innovative solution against reforming. This innovative system concept is expected to make SOFCs more cost-effective, yet resulting feeding gas might cause a quicker SOFC performance decay. Besides solving this trade-off, the economic viability results strongly sensitive to subsidiary electricity prices in force according to the regulatory framework.This paper presents a comparative economic assessment regarding biogas-to-electricity conversion via Solid Oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and mature technologies as internal combustion engines (ICEs). Results highlighted that, the innovative SOFC system is far more viable than reforming-based one, exhibiting a reasonable payback time, with an adequate subsidized electricity sale price (4 and 5 years for small/medium and large-size plants respectively when subsidy is 0.28 €/kWh), up to 1%_1000h degradation rate. On the other hand, whilst considering a SOFC degradation rate of 0.03%_1000h, the reforming-based system appears feasible only on large-size plants, yet recovering the initial capital expenditure in 9 years. Moreover, once the break-even point is reached, the gain in the net revenue produced by the innovative system is amplified in the event of small-size installation. This allows the possibility to undertake the risk of higher degradation rates (up to 2%_1000h) without jeopardizing the economic profitability. Therefore, in the present regulatory framework and under current capital costs projections, the innovative SOFC system appears as much profitable as ICE mature technology. Such effort in the design of the fuel pre-treatment unit can lever SOFC broad spreading into the market of small biogas producers.     

Investigation of green hydrogen production and development of waste heat recovery system in biogas power plant for sustainable energy applications

In this study, biogas power production and green hydrogen potential as an energy carrier are evaluated from biomass. Integrating an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) to benefit from the waste exhaust gases is considered. The power obtained from the ORC is used to produce hydrogen by water electrolysis, eliminate the H₂S generated during the biogas production process and store the excess electricity. Thermodynamic and thermoeconomic analyses and optimization of the designed Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system for this purpose have been performed. The proposed study contains originality about the sustainability and efficiency of renewable energy resources. System design and analysis are performed with Engineering Equation Solver (EES) and Aspen Plus software. According to the results of thermodynamic analysis, the energy and exergy efficiency of the existing power plant is 28.69% and 25.15%. The new integrated system's energy, exergy efficiencies, and power capacity are calculated as 41.55%, 36.42%, and 5792 kW. The total hydrogen production from the system is 0.12412 kg/s. According to the results of the thermoeconomic analysis, the unit cost of the electricity produced in the existing power plant is 0.04323 $/kWh. The cost of electricity and hydrogen produced in the new proposed system is determined as 0.03922 $/kWh and 0.181 $/kg H₂, respectively.     

Biogas derived from municipal solid waste to generate electrical power through solid oxide fuel cells

Depleting fossil fuels and the pollution resulting from their consumption indicate an urgent need for clean and dependable alternatives such as renewable energies. Biomass is a free and abundant source of renewable energy. Municipal solid waste (MSW) as one of the main categories of biomass has always been an issue for metropolitan cities. It has, however, a high potential for biogas production. In this study, the technical and economic aspects of generating electrical power through solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) powered by injecting biogas derived from Tehran's MSW, as a case study, are investigated. The main objectives of the current study are to identify the power generation capability of the process and find out if it can result in a competitive energy resource. The total amount of obtainable methane through anaerobic digestion of MSW and then the achievable power generation capacity by using the obtained biogas are computed using the electrochemical relations inside the SOFC. The economic calculations are carried out to estimate the final price of the generated electricity, taking into account the major capital and ongoing costs of the required equipment. The effect of variations of MSW composition on the power generation capability and final electricity price is also studied. Moreover, the application of a gas turbine (GT) with the SOFC as a hybrid SOFC–GT system to recover the produced heat by SOFC and its effect on the power generation capability and the final electricity price are investigated. Results indicate that around 997.3 tons day^?1 biomethane can be generated using Tehran's MSW. By using the SOFC, the produced biogas can generate 300 MW_AC electrical power with a final cost of Depleting fossil fuels and the pollution resulting from their consumption indicate an urgent need for clean and dependable alternatives such as renewable energies. Biomass is a free and abundant source of renewable energy. Municipal solid waste (MSW) as one of the main categories of biomass has always been an issue for metropolitan cities. It has, however, a high potential for biogas production. In this study, the technical and economic aspects of generating electrical power through solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) powered by injecting biogas derived from Tehran's MSW, as a case study, are investigated. The main objectives of the current study are to identify the power generation capability of the process and find out if it can result in a competitive energy resource. The total amount of obtainable methane through anaerobic digestion of MSW and then the achievable power generation capacity by using the obtained biogas are computed using the electrochemical relations inside the SOFC. The economic calculations are carried out to estimate the final price of the generated electricity, taking into account the major capital and ongoing costs of the required equipment. The effect of variations of MSW composition on the power generation capability and final electricity price is also studied. Moreover, the application of a gas turbine (GT) with the SOFC as a hybrid SOFC–GT system to recover the produced heat by SOFC and its effect on the power generation capability and the final electricity price are investigated. Results indicate that around 997.3 tons day^?1 biomethane can be generated using Tehran's MSW. By using the SOFC, the produced biogas can generate 300 MW_AC electrical power with a final cost of $0.178 kWh^?1. By using the hybrid SOFC–GT, the electrical power capacity is increased to 525 MW_AC, and the final electricity cost drops to $0.11 kWh^?1, which indicates its competitiveness with other common energy resources in the near future, especially by considering different governmental subsidy policies that support renewable energy resources. The considerable environmental benefits of the proposed procedure, from both MSW management and CO₂ emission reduction points of view, make it a promising sustainable energy resource for the future. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Renewable and hydrogen energy integrated house

The residential sector accounts for about a third of the total world energy consumption. Energy efficiency, Renewable Energy Sources and Hydrogen can play an important role in reducing the consumptions and the emissions and improving the energy security if integrated (Efficiency, Res, Hydrogen) systems are developed and experimented. The paper analyzes a real residential 100 square meters house, where energy efficiency measures and RES technologies have been applied, sizing a hydrogen system (electrolyzer, metal hydrides and fuel cell) for power backup, taking into consideration its dynamic behavior, experimentally determined. The technologies used are already available in the market and, except hydrogen technologies, sufficiently mature. Through energy efficiency technologies (insulation, absorbers, etc), the maximum electrical and thermal power needed decreases from 4.4 kW_e to 1.7 kW_e (annual consumption from 5000 kWh to 1200 kWh) and from 5.2 kW_t to 1.6 kW_t (annual consumption from 14,600 kWh to 4500 kWh) respectively. With these reduced values it has been possible to supply the consumptions entirely by small photovoltaic and solar thermal plants (less than 10 m² each). The hydrogen backup even if remains the most expensive (versus traditional batteries and gasoline generator), satisfying all the electric needs for one day, increases the security and allows net metering. Moreover the low-pressure hydrogen storage system through metal hydrides guarantees system safety too. Finally the system modularity can also satisfy higher energy production.     

Results from an industrial size biogas-fed SOFC plant (the DEMOSOFC project)

The EU-funded DEMOSOFC project aims to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of operating a 174 kW_e Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) in a wastewater treatment plant. The fuel for the three SOFC modules (3 × 58 kW_e) is biogas, which is available on-site from the anaerobic digestion of sludge collected from treated wastewater. The integrated biogas-SOFC plant includes three main units: 1) the biogas cleaning and compression section, 2) the three SOFC power modules, and 3) the heat recovery loop. Main advantages of the proposed layout are the net electric efficiency of the SOFC, which is in the range 50–55%, and the near-zero emissions. A specific focus of the demonstration project is the deep and reliable removal of harmful biogas contaminants. The presented work is related to the design of the SOFC system integrated into the wastewater treatment plant, followed by the analysis of the first results from the plant operation. We analyzed the biogas yearly profile to determine the optimal SOFC capacity to install that is 3 SOFC modules. The rational is to maintain high the capacity factor while minimizing the number of shutdown per year (due to biogas unavailability). First results from plant operation are also presented. The first SOFC module was activated in October 2017 and the second in October 2018. The measured SOFC efficiency from compressed biogas to AC power has always been higher than 50–52%, with peaks of 56%. Dedicated emissions measurements have been performed onsite during December 2017. Results on real biogas operation show NO_x < 20 mg/m³, SO₂ < 8 mg/m³ (detection limits for the instrument) and PM lower than ambient air values.     

Operation of solid oxide fuel cells with alternative hydrogen carriers

Future electricity production will use fossil-free sources with zero CO₂ emission or closed carbon cycle technologies based on renewable sources. While hydrogen is considered a key energy source, its production at present time relies heavily on fossil fuels. Furthermore, distribution and storage are not well established and require substantial investments. This is a strong motivation to identify alternative, safe, high power density hydrogen carriers, where existing logistics and infrastructure can be utilized. In this contribution, ammonia and biogas are considered for high-efficient electricity production in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). It is demonstrated that the properties and operating conditions of SOFC allow for direct use of these fuels, with fuel pretreatment inside the SOFC anode. The high efficient electricity production using pure ammonia or real biogas was successfully proven on state-of-the-art SOFCs. Even without optimization of operating parameters, electrical efficiencies of 40–50% and high and stable power output were demonstrated.     

Technical, economic and environmental analysis of energy production from municipal solid waste

Four technologies are investigated which produce energy from municipal solid waste (MSW): incineration, gasification, generation of biogas and utilisation in a combined heat and power (CHP) plant, generation of biogas and conversion to transport fuel.Typically the residual component of MSW (non-recyclable, non-organic) is incinerated producing electricity at an efficiency of about 20% and thermal product at an efficiency of about 55%. This is problematic in an Irish context where utilisation of thermal products is not the norm. Gasification produces electricity at an efficiency of about 34%; this would suggest that gasification of the residual component of MSW is more advantageous than incineration where a market for thermal product does not exist. Gasification produces more electricity than incineration, requires a smaller gate fee than incineration and when thermal product is not utilised generates less greenhouse gas per kWh than incineration. Gasification of MSW (a non-homogenous fuel) is, however, not proven at commercial scale.Biogas may be generated by digesting the organic fraction of MSW (OFMSW). The produced biogas may be utilised for CHP production or for transport fuel production as CH₄-enriched biogas. When used to produce transport fuel some of the biogas is used in a small CHP unit to meet electricity demand on site. This generates a surplus thermal product.Both biogas technologies require significantly less investment costs than the thermal conversion technologies (incineration and gasification) and have smaller gate fees. Of the four technologies investigated transport fuel production requires the least gate fee. A shortfall of the transport fuel production technology is that only 50% of biogas is available for scrubbing to CH₄-enriched biogas.     

Feasibility of pico-hydro and photovoltaic hybrid power systems for remote villages in Cameroon

Pico-hydro (pH) and photovoltaic (PV) hybrid systems incorporating a biogas generator have been simulated for remote villages in Cameroon using a load of 73 kWh/day and 8.3 kWp. Renewable energy systems were simulated using HOMER, the load profile of a hostel in Cameroon, the solar insolation of Garoua and the flow of river Mungo. For a 40% increase in the cost of imported power system components, the cost of energy was found to be either 0.352 €/kWh for a 5 kW pico-hydro generator with 72 kWh storage or 0.396 €/kWh for a 3 kWp photovoltaic generator with 36 kWh storage. These energy costs were obtained with a biomass resource cost of 25 €/tonne. The pH and PV hybrid systems both required the parallel operation of a 3.3 kW battery inverter with a 10 kW biogas generator. The pH/biogas/battery systems simulated for villages located in the south of Cameroon with a flow rate of at least 92 l/s produced lower energy costs than PV/biogas/battery systems simulated for villages in the north of Cameroon with an insolation level of at least 5.55 kWh/m²/day. For a single-wire grid extension cost of 5000 €/km, operation and maintenance costs of 125 €/yr/km and a grid power price of 0.1 €/kWh, the breakeven grid extension distances were found to be 12.9 km for pH/biogas/battery systems and 15.2 km for PV/biogas/battery systems respectively. Investments in biogas based renewable energy systems could thus be considered in the National Energy Action Plan of Cameroon for the supply of energy to key sectors involved in poverty alleviation.     

The financial viability of an SOFC cogeneration system in single-family dwellings

In the near future, fuel cell-based residential micro-CHP systems will compete with traditional methods of energy supply. A micro-CHP system may be considered viable if its incremental capital cost compared to its competitors equals to cumulated savings during a given period of time. A simplified model is developed in this study to estimate the operation of a residential solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system. A comparative assessment of the SOFC system vis-à-vis heating systems based on gas, oil and electricity is conducted using the simplified model for a single-family house located in Ottawa and Vancouver. The energy consumption of the house is estimated using the HOT2000 building simulation program. A financial analysis is carried out to evaluate the sensitivity of the maximum allowable capital cost with respect to system sizing, acceptable payback period, energy price and the electricity buyback strategy of an energy utility. Based on the financial analysis, small (1–2 kW_e) SOFC systems seem to be feasible in the considered case. The present study shows also that an SOFC system is especially an alternative to heating systems based on oil and electrical furnaces.     

Overview analysis of bioenergy from livestock manure management in Taiwan

The emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the livestock manure are becoming significant energy and environmental issues in Taiwan. However, the waste management (i.e., anaerobic digestion) can produce the biogas associated with its composition mostly consisting of methane (CH₄), which is now considered as a renewable energy with emphasis on electricity generation and other energy uses. The objective of this paper was to present an overview analysis of biogas-to-bioenergy in Taiwan, which included five elements: current status of biogas sources and their energy utilizations, potential of biogas (methane) generation from livestock manure management, governmental regulations and policies for promoting biogas, benefits of GHGs (i.e., methane) emission reduction, and research and development status of utilizing livestock manure for biofuel production. In the study, using the livestock population data surveyed by the Council of Agriculture (Taiwan) and the emission factors recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the potential of methane generation from livestock manure management in Taiwan during the period of 1995–2007 has been estimated to range from 36 to 56 Gg year⁻¹, indicating that the biogas (methane) from swine and dairy cattle is abundant. Based on the characteristics of swine manure, the maximum potential of methane generation could reach to around 400 Gg year⁻¹. With a practical basis of the total swine population (around 4300 thousand heads) from the farm scale of over 1000 heads, a preliminary analysis showed the following benefits: methane reduction of 21.5 Gg year⁻¹, electricity generation of 7.2 × 10⁷ kW-h year⁻¹, equivalent electricity charge saving of 7.2 × 10⁶ US$ year⁻¹, and equivalent carbon dioxide mitigation of 500 Gg year⁻¹.     

Exergy analysis and optimization of a biomass gasification, solid oxide fuel cell and micro gas turbine hybrid system

A hybrid plant producing combined heat and power (CHP) from biomass by use of a two-stage gasification concept, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a micro gas turbine was considered for optimization. The hybrid plant represents a sustainable and efficient alternative to conventional decentralized CHP plants. A clean product gas was produced by the demonstrated two-stage gasifier, thus only simple gas conditioning was necessary prior to the SOFC stack. The plant was investigated by thermodynamic modeling combining zero-dimensional component models into complete system-level models. Energy and exergy analyses were applied. Focus in this optimization study was heat management, and the optimization efforts resulted in a substantial gain of approximately 6% in the electrical efficiency of the plant. The optimized hybrid plant produced approximately 290 kW_e at an electrical efficiency of 58.2% based on lower heating value (LHV).     

Study of the energy potential of the biogas produced by an urban waste landfill in Southern Spain

Sanitary landfills have been and continue to be one of the most common ways to dispose of urban waste although such landfills inevitably generate waste management problems. Landfills are an important source of anthropogenic CH₄ emissions. In this sense the European Union has passed regulations regarding the effective management of biogas within the framework of an EU policy for renewable energies. The sealed landfill analyzed in this study is an example of energy recovery, but in this case the biogas generated by the landfill is being re-used to produce electrical energy. This article presents the results of the economic viability study, which was carried out previous to the construction of the installation. The results based on the use of empirical and theoretical models show the biogas to have a 45% proportion of methane and an overall flowrate ranging from 250 to 550 N m³/h. It is presently being used to produce electricity amounting to approximately 4,500, 000 kW h/year. The economic viability of the installation was estimated by means of the Internal Recovery Rate (IRR) for an exploitation period of 7 years.     

Thermodynamic performance comparison of SOFC-MGT-CCHP systems coupled with two different solar methane steam reforming processes

Multi-energy complementary distributed energy system integrated with renewable energy is at the forefront of energy sustainable development and is an important way to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. A comparative analysis of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-micro gas turbine (MGT)-combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) systems coupled with two solar methane steam reforming processes is presented in terms of energy, exergy, environmental and economic performances in this paper. The first is to couple with the traditional solar methane steam reforming process. Then the produced hydrogen-rich syngas is directly sent into the SOFC anode to produce electricity. The second is to couple with the medium-temperature solar methane membrane separation and reforming process. The produced pure hydrogen enters the SOFC anode to generate electricity, and the remaining small amount of fuel gas enters the afterburner to increase the exhaust gas enthalpy. Both systems transfer the low-grade solar energy to high-grade hydrogen, and then orderly release energy in the systems. The research results show that the solar thermochemical efficiency, energy efficiency and exergy efficiency of the second system reach 52.20%, 77.97% and 57.29%, respectively, 19.05%, 7.51% and 3.63% higher than those of the first system, respectively. Exergy analysis results indicate that both the solar heat collection process and the SOFC electrochemical process have larger exergy destruction. The levelized cost of products of the first system is about 0.0735$/h that is lower than that of the second system. And these two new systems have less environmental impact, with specific CO₂ emissions of 236.98 g/kWh and 249.89 g/kWh, respectively.     

Economic evaluation of small-scale photovoltaic hybrid systems for mini-grid applications in far north Cameroon

A comparison between photovoltaic hybrid systems (PVHS), standalone photovoltaic (PV) and standalone diesel generator options is performed using the net present value (NPV) technique. A typical village mini-grid energy demand of 7.08 kWh/day is considered in the computation of energy costs and breakeven grid distances. A first sensitivity analysis is conducted using remote diesel prices of 0.8 €/l, 0.98 €/l, 1.12 €/l, 1.28 €/l with a PV module cost of 7.5 €/Wp. A second sensitivity analysis is also done using PV module costs of 5.25 €/Wp, 6 €/Wp, 6.75 €/Wp, 7.5 €/Wp with a diesel price of 1.12 €/l. The energy cost for the diesel option was found to be 0.812 €/kWh at a diesel fuel price of 1.12 €/l. The sensitivity analyses showed that minimum energy costs were attained in PVHS at renewable energy fractions in the range 82.6–95.3%. In the second sensitivity analysis the energy costs and breakeven grid distances were found to be in the ranges 0.692–0.785 €/kWh and 5.1–5.9 km respectively. For a PV module cost of 5.25 €/Wp, the lowest energy cost for the PVHS option was 0.692 €/kWh at a final renewable energy fraction of 95.3% with the diesel generator hours being 37 h compared to 2075 h in the standalone diesel generator option. Consequently, a 30% reduction in custom duties and taxes on imported PV modules and sub-systems would increase the use of small-scale and climate friendly PV mini-grids in remote areas of far north Cameroon that have an annual insolation of at least 5.55 kWh/m²/day.     

Primary energy and economic analysis of combined heating, cooling and power systems

In this paper, the primary energy consumption and the economic viability of a combined heating, cooling and power (CHCP) system are derived. The focus is on small-scale applications in the range below 100 kW_H/70 kW_C/58 kW_el. CHCP is discussed between the boundaries of combined heating and power (CHP) and combined cooling and power (CCP) using a lumped parameter model. The method used is independent of a specific load profile for a building; only the full-load hours for heating and cooling are needed to predict the economic viability. German data is used for the example. A sensitivity analysis reveals the parameters with the highest impact on the primary energy consumption and the energy costs. The primary energy factors, the energy prices and the electric efficiency of the CHP are the dominating parameters. Increasing electricity prices favour the introduction of CHP and CHCP systems whereas increasing gas prices inhibit it. The energy cost analysis is extended to an economic analysis taking maintenance and investment costs into account. One result of this paper is a simple diagram which shows how many annual operation hours are needed for heating and cooling with CHCP to be more economical than a reference system.     

Sustainable biogas energy in Poland: Prospects and challenges

The article investigates prospects and challenges for expanding of sustainable biogas energy in Poland. The number of Polish biogas fuelled power plants and installed electrical power during the 2001-2010 decade is presented. Current economical incentives for biogas energy are discussed. It is emphasized that some revisions to the Polish tradable certificate system are urgently needed in order to encourage energy crop cultivation and the use of best available power technologies. Further, promising, but mostly unexplored feedstocks, such as energy crops, grasses and sorted municipal organic wastes are analyzed. It is also revealed that agrobiogas is characterized by a unique feature of ‘negative net’ CO₂ atmospheric emissions and thus the role of agrobiogas in solving Polish CCS dilemmas is discussed. In regard to biogas energy systems it is stressed, that the cost of electricity from biogas is almost independent on the size of agrobiogas CHP power plants in the range of 0.2-5 MW_e. Therefore agrobiogas energy is well suited for distributed energy systems involving small-scale agrobiogas power plants offering more green jobs and improved local waste management characteristics. Finally, reliable technologies suitable for biogas energy conversion and upgrading of biogas fuel to marketable gaseous fuels are briefly characterized.     

Comparison between externally fired gas turbine and gasifier-gas turbine system for the olive oil industry

The olive oil industry generates during the extraction process several solid wastes as olive tree leaves and prunings, exhausted pomace and olive pits. These renewable wastes could be used for power and heat applications. The aim of this paper is to compare the performance of two small-scale CHP systems: a gasification- gas turbine system and an EFGT (externally fired gas turbine system). For this reason, several parameters have been calculated: generated heat and power, electric and overall efficiencies, biomass consumption, exergy efficiency, optimum pressure ratio, etc. These systems provide 30 kW_e and about 60kW_th. Simulation results show that the electrical and overall efficiencies achieved in EFGT system (19.1% and 59.3%, respectively) are significantly higher than those obtained in the gasification plant (12.3% and 45.4%). The proposed CHP systems have been modeled using Cycle-Tempo^® software.     

Internal reforming SOFC running on biogas

Direct feeding of biogas to SOFC, which is derived from municipal organic wastes, has been investigated as a carbon-neutral renewable energy system. CH₄/CO₂ ratio in the actual biogas fluctuated between 1.4 and 1.9 indicating biogas composition is strongly affected by the kinds of organic wastes and the operational conditions of methane fermentation. Using anode-supported button cells, stable operation of biogas-fueled SOFC was achieved with the internal reforming mode at 800 °C. Cell voltage above 0.8 V was recorded over 800 h at 200 mA cm⁻². It has been revealed that air addition to actual biogas reduced the risk of carbon formation and led to more stable operation without compromising cell voltage due to the lowering of anodic overvoltage.     

Performance evaluation of a 10 kWp PV power system prototype for isolated building in Thailand

This paper describes the design and testing of a 10 kW_p photovoltaic (PV) system and summarizes its performance results after the first 6 months of operation. This system functions as a stand-alone power system that is used to supply electricity for isolated buildings and is designed for integration with a micro-grid system (MGS), which is the future concept for a renewable energy-based power network system for Thailand. The system is comprised of the following components. An array with three different types of PV modules consisting amorphous thin film of 3672 W, polycrystalline solar cell of 3600 W and hybrid solar cell of 2880 W, making up a total peak power of 10.152 kW. In addition, there are three grid-connected inverters of 3.5 kW each, three bi-directional inverters of 3.5 kW each and an energy storage system of 100 kWh. After the first 6 months of system operation, it was found that all the components and the overall system had worked effectively. In total, the system had generated about 7852 kWh and the average electricity production per day was 43.6 kWh. The average efficiency of amorphous thin film panel, polycrystalline panel, hybrid solar cell panel and entire PV panel system was 6.26%, 10.48%, 13.78% and 8.82%, respectively. From the analysis of the daily energy production, daily energy consumption and energy storage, the results seem to indicate that there was some mismatching between energy supply and demand in the system. However, this can be overcome by integrating the system to a micro-grid network whereby the energy from the system can be diverted to other loads when there is a surplus and additional energy can be drawn from external sources and fed to the system when the internal supply is insufficient.     

Exergetic analysis of solid oxide fuel cell and biomass gasification integration with heat pipes

This paper presents an exergetic analysis of a combined heat and power (CHP) system, integrating a near-atmospheric solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with an allothermal biomass fluidised bed steam gasification process. The gasification heat requirement is supplied to the fluidised bed from the SOFC stack through high-temperature sodium heat pipes. The CHP system was modelled in AspenPlus™ software including sub-models for the gasification, SOFC, gas cleaning and heat pipes. For an average current density of 3000 A m⁻² the proposed system would consume 90 kg h⁻¹ biomass producing 170 kW_e net power with a system exergetic efficiency of 36%, out of which 34% are electrical.