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Solar-assisted integrated biogas solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) installation in wastewater treatment plant: Energy and economic analysis

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  • Mehr, A.S.
  • Gandiglio, M.
  • MosayebNezhad, M.
  • Lanzini, A.
  • Mahmoudi, S.M.S.
  • Yari, M.
  • Santarelli, M.

Abstract

A unique cogeneration system integrating a biogas fed Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) and a Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) system for a reference Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Italy is proposed. Biogas – which is locally in the WWTP from the anaerobic digestion (AD) of the collected sludge – can be used to produce electricity using SOFC power modules. The thermal power recovered from the SOFC exhaust stream is used to meet part of the digester thermal load. However, the rest heat loads are provided by using the integration with the CST system and an auxiliary boiler. Energy analysis is performed to determine the effect of using the solar heating system on the system performance. Also, the economic performance is evaluated through a cash-flow analysis and the calculation of the Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). It is observed that installing 300m2, 700m2, 1100m2 of solar collectors could cover 8%, 18% and 30% of total digester heat load, respectively. Results show an overall beneficial effect of the solar installation, both from an energy and economic standpoint of view. For all the scenarios analyzed, the LCOE is lower than the grid electricity price and, with increasing solar integration, the value is further reduced showing that, despite the investment return time, the electricity production during the entire system lifetime is competitive against grid electricity prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Mehr, A.S. & Gandiglio, M. & MosayebNezhad, M. & Lanzini, A. & Mahmoudi, S.M.S. & Yari, M. & Santarelli, M., 2017. "Solar-assisted integrated biogas solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) installation in wastewater treatment plant: Energy and economic analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 620-638.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:191:y:2017:i:c:p:620-638
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.01.070
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    Cited by:

    1. Pal, Ankit & Bhattacharjee, Subhadeep, 2020. "Effectuation of biogas based hybrid energy system for cost-effective decentralized application in small rural community," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    2. MosayebNezhad, M. & Mehr, A.S. & Lanzini, A. & Misul, D. & Santarelli, M., 2019. "Technology review and thermodynamic performance study of a biogas-fed micro humid air turbine," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 407-418.
    3. Mehr, A.S. & Moharramian, A. & Hossainpour, S. & Pavlov, Denis A., 2020. "Effect of blending hydrogen to biogas fuel driven from anaerobic digestion of wastewater on the performance of a solid oxide fuel cell system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    4. Malfuzi, A. & Mehr, A.S. & Rosen, Marc A. & Alharthi, M. & Kurilova, A.A., 2020. "Economic viability of bitcoin mining using a renewable-based SOFC power system to supply the electrical power demand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    5. Marta Gandiglio & Fabrizio De Sario & Andrea Lanzini & Silvia Bobba & Massimo Santarelli & Gian Andrea Blengini, 2019. "Life Cycle Assessment of a Biogas-Fed Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Integrated in a Wastewater Treatment Plant," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-31, April.
    6. Xin Zhao & Yanqi Chen & Gang Xu & Heng Chen, 2022. "Economic Assessment of Operation Strategies on Park-Level Integrated Energy System Coupled with Biogas: A Case Study in a Sewage Treatment Plant," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Su, Bosheng & Huang, Yupeng & Wang, Yilin & Huang, Zhi & Yuan, Shuo & Huang, Qiteng & Xu, Zhilong & Lin, Feng, 2023. "Novel ammonia-driven chemically recuperated gas turbine cycle based on dual fuel mode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 343(C).
    8. Demichelis, Francesca & Fiore, Silvia & Pleissner, Daniel & Venus, Joachim, 2018. "Technical and economic assessment of food waste valorization through a biorefinery chain," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 38-48.
    9. Ma, Sainan & Chiu, Chun Pang & Zhu, Yujiao & Tang, Chun Yin & Long, Hui & Qarony, Wayesh & Zhao, Xinhua & Zhang, Xuming & Lo, Wai Hung & Tsang, Yuen Hong, 2017. "Recycled waste black polyurethane sponges for solar vapor generation and distillation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 63-69.
    10. Sadeghi, Mohsen & Seyed Mahmoudi, Seyed Mohammad & Rosen, Marc A., 2022. "Thermoeconomic analysis of two solid oxide fuel cell based cogeneration plants integrated with simple or modified supercritical CO2 Brayton cycles: A comparative study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    11. Dai, Huidong & Besser, R.S., 2022. "Understanding hydrogen sulfide impact on a portable, commercial, propane-powered solid-oxide fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    12. Su, Bosheng & Han, Wei & Zhang, Xiaosong & Chen, Yi & Wang, Zefeng & Jin, Hongguang, 2018. "Assessment of a combined cooling, heating and power system by synthetic use of biogas and solar energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 922-935.
    13. Su, Bosheng & Han, Wei & He, Hongzhou & Jin, Hongguang & Chen, Zhijie & Zheng, Jieqing & Yang, Shaohui & Zhang, Xiaodong, 2020. "Using moderate carbon dioxide separation to improve the performance of solar-driven biogas reforming process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    14. Xiao, Gang & Sun, Anwei & Liu, Hongwei & Ni, Meng & Xu, Haoran, 2023. "Thermal management of reversible solid oxide cells in the dynamic mode switching," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    15. Su, Bosheng & Lin, Feng & Ma, Jingyuan & Huang, Shenghua & Wang, Yilin & Zhang, Xiaodong & Han, Wei & Wang, Hongsheng, 2022. "System integration of multi-grade exploitation of biogas chemical energy driven by solar energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    16. Alexandros Arsalis & George E. Georghiou, 2018. "A Decentralized, Hybrid Photovoltaic-Solid Oxide Fuel Cell System for Application to a Commercial Building," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-20, December.
    17. Wu, Xiao-long & Xu, Yuan-wu & Zhao, Dong-qi & Zhong, Xiao-bo & Li, Dong & Jiang, Jianhua & Deng, Zhonghua & Fu, Xiaowei & Li, Xi, 2020. "Extended-range electric vehicle-oriented thermoelectric surge control of a solid oxide fuel cell system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    18. Mehr, A.S. & Lanzini, A. & Santarelli, M. & Rosen, Marc A., 2021. "Polygeneration systems based on high temperature fuel cell (MCFC and SOFC) technology: System design, fuel types, modeling and analysis approaches," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    19. Mehr, A.S. & MosayebNezhad, M. & Lanzini, A. & Yari, M. & Mahmoudi, S.M.S. & Santarelli, M., 2018. "Thermodynamic assessment of a novel SOFC based CCHP system in a wastewater treatment plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 299-309.
    20. Su, Bosheng & Han, Wei & Qu, Wanjun & Liu, Changchun & Jin, Hongguang, 2018. "A new hybrid photovoltaic/thermal and liquid desiccant system for trigeneration application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 808-818.
    21. Rillo, E. & Gandiglio, M. & Lanzini, A. & Bobba, S. & Santarelli, M. & Blengini, G., 2017. "Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of biogas-fed Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 585-602.
    22. Grasham, Oliver & Dupont, Valerie & Camargo-Valero, Miller Alonso & García-Gutiérrez, Pelayo & Cockerill, Timothy, 2019. "Combined ammonia recovery and solid oxide fuel cell use at wastewater treatment plants for energy and greenhouse gas emission improvements," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 698-708.
    23. Orlando Corigliano & Leonardo Pagnotta & Petronilla Fragiacomo, 2022. "On the Technology of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Energy Systems for Stationary Power Generation: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-73, November.

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