Decentralized combined heat and power production by two-stage biomass gasification and solid oxide fuel cells

C. Bang-Møller, M. Rokni, B. Elmegaard, J. Ahrenfeldt and U.B. Henriksen

Energy, 2013, vol. 58, issue C, 527-537

Abstract: To investigate options for increasing the electrical efficiency of decentralized combined heat and power (CHP) plants fuelled with biomass compared to conventional technology, this research explored the performance of an alternative plant design based on thermal biomass gasification and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Based on experimental data from a demonstrated 0.6 MWth two-stage gasifier, a model of the gasifier plant was developed and calibrated. Similarly, an SOFC model was developed using published experimental data. Simulation of a 3 MWth plant combining two-stage biomass gasification and SOFCs predicted a net electrical efficiency of 44.9% (LHV (lower heating value)) when 1.4 MWe power was produced. The work had significant focus on providing a highly accurate model of the complete plant. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the SOFC operating temperature, SOFC fuel utilization factor, carbon conversion factor in the gasifier and the efficiency of the DC/AC inverter were the most influential parameters in the model. Thus, a detailed study of the practical values of these parameters was conducted to determine the performance of the plant with the lowest possible uncertainty. The SOFC fuel utilization will in practice be based on a balance between efficiency and lifetime of the SOFC and is thus a decision of the plant design.

Keywords: Biomass gasification; Solid oxide fuel cells; Combined heat and power; Thermodynamics; Modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544213005458
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:58:y:2013:i:c:p:527-537

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2013.06.046

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().