Biomass Steam Gasification, High-Temperature Gas Cleaning, and SOFC Model: A Parametric Analysis

Vera Marcantonio, Danilo Monarca, Mauro Villarini, Andrea Di Carlo, Luca Del Zotto and Enrico Bocci
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Vera Marcantonio: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University of Viterbo, Via San Camillo de Lellis, snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Danilo Monarca: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University of Viterbo, Via San Camillo de Lellis, snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Mauro Villarini: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), Tuscia University of Viterbo, Via San Camillo de Lellis, snc, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Andrea Di Carlo: Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics, University of L’Aquila, Via San Giovanni Gronchi 18, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Luca Del Zotto: CREAT, Centro di Ricerca su Energia, Ambiente e Territorio, Università Telematica eCampus, 22060 Novedrate, Italy
Enrico Bocci: Department of Nuclear, Subnuclear and Radiation Physics, Marconi University, 00193 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-13

Abstract: Gasification technology is actually one of the most effective ways to produce power and hydrogen from biomass. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have proved to be an excellent energy conversion device. They can transform the chemical energy content in the syngas, produced by a gasifier, directly into electrical energy. A steady-state model of a biomass-SOFC was developed using process simulation software, ASPEN Plus (10, AspenTech, Bedford, MA, USA). The objective of this work was to implement a biomass-SOFC system capable of predicting performance under diverse operating conditions. The system is made of a gasification zone, gas cleaning steps, and SOFC. The SOFC modelling was done without external subroutines, unlike most models in the literature, using only the existing ASPEN Plus blocks, making the model simpler and more reliable. The analysis of the syngas composition out of each cleaning step is in accordance with literature data. Then, a sensitivity analysis was carried out on the main parameters. The results indicate that there must be a trade-off between voltage, electrical efficiency, and power with respect to current density and it is preferable to stay at a low steam-to-biomass ratio. The electrical efficiency achieved under the operating conditions is 57%, a high value, making these systems very attractive.

Keywords: biomass gasification; hot gas cleaning; SOFC; tar modelling; H 2 S removal; ASPEN Plus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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