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Use of biogas from biowaste in a solid oxide fuel cell stack: Application to an off-grid power plant

Author

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  • Cozzolino, Raffaello
  • Lombardi, Lidia
  • Tribioli, Laura

Abstract

The development of fuel cells is promising to enable the distributed generation of electricity in the near future. The main candidate fuel for these devices is hydrogen, however, the infrastructure for its production and distribution is currently lacking. In a short to medium term, processing of fossil fuels will play a significant role in hydrogen generation for fuel cells and the use of renewable source – as biogas – is collecting increasing interest at international level. In this work, we consider the use of biogas to feed a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) studying separately in details the reforming and the power production. The biogas reforming process was investigated using a thermodynamic and chemical simulation tool. The influence of various operating parameters, such as steam to carbon ratio, carbon deposition and temperature, on the reforming performances was validated, analyzed in-depth and results are presented. Then a model able to provide the polarization curve of the SOFC was implemented and validated. The SOFC model was run using the syngas compositions obtained for three different reforming operating temperatures from 600 to 800 °C. When the temperature increased, the hydrogen molar composition in the syngas increased, whereby the results obtained by the numerical analysis showed an improvement of the SOFC performance as the reforming temperature increased. Afterwards, the reforming/SOFC model was integrated in a hybrid renewable power plant, for an off-grid application. In the proposed case study, a wind turbine and a photovoltaic panel array are used as main energy sources, while the SOFC, together with a battery and a diesel generator, is used as backup system, due to the intrinsic intermittency of main power sources. Three different scenarios, based on different amounts of biogas produced by a biowaste anaerobic digester, have been simulated and analyzed, demonstrating that the power plant is able to achieve 100% renewable operation, provided that the digester produces at least 436 m3/day on average.

Suggested Citation

  • Cozzolino, Raffaello & Lombardi, Lidia & Tribioli, Laura, 2017. "Use of biogas from biowaste in a solid oxide fuel cell stack: Application to an off-grid power plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 781-791.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:111:y:2017:i:c:p:781-791
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.04.027
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Yuqing & Wehrle, Lukas & Banerjee, Aayan & Shi, Yixiang & Deutschmann, Olaf, 2021. "Analysis of a biogas-fed SOFC CHP system based on multi-scale hierarchical modeling," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 78-87.
    2. Barelli, Linda & Bidini, Gianni & Micoli, Luca & Sisani, Elena & Turco, Maria, 2018. "13X Ex-Cu zeolite performance characterization towards H2S removal for biogas use in molten carbonate fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 44-53.
    3. Mendecka, Barbara & Chiappini, Daniele & Tribioli, Laura & Cozzolino, Raffaello, 2021. "A biogas-solar based hybrid off-grid power plant with multiple storages for United States commercial buildings," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 705-722.
    4. Cozzolino, Raffaello & Chiappini, Daniele & Tribioli, Laura, 2021. "Off-grid PV/URFC power plant fueled with biogas from food waste: An energetic and economic analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    5. Dariusz Mikielewicz & Krzysztof Kosowski & Karol Tucki & Marian Piwowarski & Robert Stępień & Olga Orynycz & Wojciech Włodarski, 2019. "Gas Turbine Cycle with External Combustion Chamber for Prosumer and Distributed Energy Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
    6. Nam, Hoseok & Ibano, Kenzo & Konishi, Satoshi, 2020. "Cost analysis and energy return on investment of fuel cell and gas turbine integrated fusion-biomass hybrid system; application of a small scale conceptual fusion reactor GNOME," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    7. Krzysztof Kosowski & Marian Piwowarski, 2020. "Design Analysis of Micro Gas Turbines in Closed Cycles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-14, November.
    8. Mehrabian, Morteza & Mahmoudimehr, Javad, 2023. "A correlation for optimal steam-to-fuel ratio in a biogas-fueled solid oxide fuel cell with internal steam reforming by using Artificial Neural Networks," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    9. Dariusz Mikielewicz & Krzysztof Kosowski & Karol Tucki & Marian Piwowarski & Robert Stępień & Olga Orynycz & Wojciech Włodarski, 2019. "Influence of Different Biofuels on the Efficiency of Gas Turbine Cycles for Prosumer and Distributed Energy Power Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-21, August.
    10. S. M. Shafie & Z. Othman & N. Hami & S. Omar & A. H. Nu'man & N. N.A.N. Yusoff & A. Shaf, 2020. "Biogas Fed-fuel Cell Based Electricity Generation: A Life Cycle Assessment Approach," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(5), pages 498-502.
    11. Majidniya, Mahdi & Remy, Benjamin & Boileau, Thierry & Zandi, Majid, 2021. "Free Piston Stirling Engine as a new heat recovery option for an Internal Reforming Solid Oxide Fuel Cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 1188-1201.
    12. Wang, Zengli & Zhou, Hongyang & Hao, Muming & Wang, Jun & Geng, Maofei, 2022. "Thermodynamic analysis and comparative investigation of a novel total flow and Kalina cycle coupled system for fluctuating geothermal energy utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    13. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Zhang, Mingliang & Qin, Peijia & Liu, Wenjun & Shi, Xiaomin, 2022. "Converting waste into electric energy and carbon fixation through biosyngas-fueled SOFC hybrid system: A simulation study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 725-743.
    14. Yin, Yongjun & Chen, Shaoxu & Li, Xusheng & Jiang, Bo & Zhao, Joe RuHe & Nong, Guangzai, 2021. "Comparative analysis of different CHP systems using biogas for the cassava starch plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    15. Shi, Yi & Xu, Jiuping, 2023. "A multi-objective approach to kitchen waste and excess sludge co-digestion for biomethane production with anaerobic digestion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    16. Fathabadi, Hassan, 2019. "Combining a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack with a Li-ion battery to supply the power needs of a hybrid electric vehicle," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 714-724.

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