Modelling of a CHP SOFC system fed with biogas from anaerobic digestion of municipal waste integrated with solar collectors and storage unit

Abstract

The paradigm of the sustainable energy community is recognized as the future energy approach due to its economical, technical and environmental benefits. Future systems should integrate renewable energy systems applying a “community-scale” approach to maximize energy performances, while minimizing environmental impacts. Efforts have to be directed toward the promotion of integrated technical systems needed to expand the use of renewable energy resources, to build sustainable local and national energy networks, to guarantee distribution systems for urban facilities and to reduce pollution. In this framework poly-generation is a promising design perspective, for building and district scale applications, in particular where different types of energy demand are simultaneously present and when sufficient energy intensity justifies investments in smart grids and district heating networks. In situ anaerobic digestion of biomass and organic waste has the potential to provide sustainable distributed generation of electric power together with a viable solution for the disposal of municipal solid wastes. A thermal recovery system can provide the heat required for district-heating. The system analysed is a waste-to-energy combined heat and power (CHP) generation plant that perfectly fits in the sustainable energy community paradigm. The power system is divided in the following sections: a) a mesophilic - single phase anaerobic digestion of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste for biogas production; b) a fuel treatment section with desulphurizer and pre-reformer units; c) a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) for CHP production; d) a solar collector integrated system(integrated storage system - ISS). An integrated TRNSYS/ASPEN Plus model for simulating the power system behaviour during a typical reference period (day or year) was developed and presented. The proposed ISS consists of a solar collector integrated with storage systems system designed to continuously provide the thermal power required by the anaerobic digester.

Keywords

• Energy, Anaerobic Digestion, Cogeneration

References

1. Ackermann T., Andersson G., Sode, L., (2001), Distributed generation: a definition. Electric Power Systems Research, 57, 195–204.
2. Alanne, K., Saari, A., (2006), Distributed energy generation and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 10, 539–558. Renewable and
3. Alkhamis, T.M., El-khazali, R., Kablan, M.M., Alhusein, M.A., (2001), Heating of a biogas reactor using a solar energy system with temperature control unit. Solar Energy, 69 (3), 239-247.
4. Axaopoulos, P., Panagakis, P., Tsavdaris, A., Georgakakis, D., (2001), Simulation and experimental performance of a solar heated anaerobic digester. Solar Energy, 70 (2), 155–164.
5. Barelli, L., Bidini, G., Gallorini, F., Ottaviano, A., (2011), An energetic-exergetic comparison between PEMFC and SOFC-based micro-CHP systems. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 36(4), 3206-3214.
6. Borello, D., Del Prete, Z., Marchegiani, A., Rispoli, F., Tortora, E., (2012), Analysis of an integrated PEMFC/ORC power system using ammonia for hydrogen storage, ASME Turbo Expo 2012, GT2012- 68599, Copenhagen, 11-15 June, 2012.
7. Commission of the European Community, Investing in the Development of Low Carbon Technologies (SET-Plan), October 2009, COM (2009) 519.
8. Calise, F., Dentice D’Accadia, M., Palombo, A., Vanoli, L., (2006), Simulation and exergy analysis of a hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)–Gas Turbine System. Energy, 31 (15), 3278-3299

9. Calise, F., (2011), Design of a hybrid polygeneration system with solar collectors and a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell: Dynamic simulation and economic assessment. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 35, 6128- 6150.
10. Commission of the European Community, A European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-PLAN): 'Towards a low carbon future', November 2007, COM (2007) 723.
11. Corsini, A., Rispoli, F., Gamberale, M., Tortora, E., (2009), Assessment of H2- and H2O-based renewable energy- buffering systems in minor islands. Renewable Energy, 34, 279–288.
12. Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the energy performance of buildings.
13. Directive 2006/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on energy end-use efficiency and energy services and repealing Council Directive 93/76/EEC.
14. Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC
15. Doherty W., Reynolds A., Kennedy D., (2010), Computer simulation of a biomass gasification-solid oxide fuel cell power system using Aspen Plus. Energy, 35, 4545- 4555.
16. Dorer V., Weber R., Weber A., (2005), Performance assessment of fuel cell micro-cogeneration systems for residential buildings. Energy and Buildings, 37 (11), 1132–1146.
17. Elkhattam W., Salama M. M. A., (2004), Distributed generation benefits.Electric Power Systems Research, 71 (2), 119- 128. definitions and
18. Eriksson, O., Bisaillon, M., Haraldsson, M., Sundberg, J., (2011), Integrated waste management as a mean to promote renewable energy. World Renewable Energy Congress, 8-11 May 2011, Sweden.
19. European Commission C(2011)9493 of 20 December 2011, Work Programme, Theme 5 – Energy.
20. Gregg. J., (2010), National and regional generation of municipal residue biomass and the future potential for waste-to-energy Bioenergy, 34 (3), 379-388. Biomass and
21. ISPRA Superior Institute for the Environmental Protection and Research (2011), Produzione termoelettrica ed emission di CO2, Rapporti 135/2011, Rome, (in Italian).
22. Kim, Y., Hong, S., Nam, S., Seo, S., Yoo, Y., Lee, S., (2011), Development of 1 kW SOFC power package for dual-fuel operation. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 36, 10247-10254.
23. Klein, S.A., Beckam, W.A., Mitchell, J.W., Braun, J.E., Evans B.L., Kummert J.P., et al., (2000), “TRNSYS – a transient system simulation program. Version 15.1”, Madison: Solar Energy Laboratory, University of Wisconsin.
24. Kuchonthara, P., Bhattacharya, S., Tsutsumi, A., (2003), Energy recuperation in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and gas turbine (GT) combined system. Journal of Power Sources, 117(1-2), 7-13.
25. Laraia, R., (2002), “Il trattamento anaerobico dei rifiuti”, Manuali e Linee Guida 13 – ANPA Unita’ Normativa Tecnica, (in Italian).
26. Larminie, J., Dicks, A., (2004)“Fuel cell system Atrium, Chichester,West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Southern Gate,
27. Liso V., Zhao Y., Brandon N., Nielsen M. P., and Kær S. K., (2011), Analysis of the impact of heat-to-power ratio for a SOFC-based mCHP system for residential application under different climate regions in Europe. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 36 (21), 13715-13726
28. Manfren M., Caputo P., Costa G., (2011), Paradigm shift in urban energy systems through distributed generation: Methods and models. Applied Energy, 88, 1032–1048.
29. Morin, P., Marcos, B., Moresoli, C., Laflamme C.B., (2010), Economic and environmental assessment on the energetic valorisation of organic material for a municipality in Quebec, Canada. Applied Energy, 87 (1), 275-283.
30. NREL Solar Energy Laboratory, University of Wisconsin- Madison, (2003), “Generated hourly weather data”.
31. Quesada, B., Sánchez, C., Cañada, J., Royo, R., Payá, J., (2011), Experimental results and simulation with TRNSYS of a 7.2kWp grid-connected photovoltaic system. Applied Energy,88 (5), 1772–1783.
32. Sans, C., Mata-Alvarez, J., Cecchi, F., Pavan, P., Bassetti, A., (1995), Volatile fatty acids production by mesophilic fermentation of mechanically sorted urban organic wastes in a plug flow reactor. Bioresource Technology, 51, 89-96.
33. Shiratori Y., Oshima T., Sasaki K., (2008), Feasibility of direct-biogas SOFC. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 33 (21), 6316-6321.
34. Strachan, N., Farrell A., (2006), Emissions from distributed vs. centralized generation: The importance of system performance. Energy Policy, 34, 2677–2689.
35. Zhang, W., Croiset, E., Douglas, P.L., Fowler, M.W., Entchev, E., (2005), Simulation of a tubular solid oxide fuel cell stack using Aspen Plus™ unit operation models. Energy Conversion and Management, 46, 181- 196.