Investigation on performance of an integrated SOFC-GE-KC power generation system using gaseous fuel from biomass gasification

A novel hybrid power generation system integrating biomass gasification, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), gas expanders (GE) and the Kalina cycle (KC) was proposed for analysis. The hybrid system with CO2 capture represents an efficient and sustainable alternative to conventional distributed power plants. A clean gaseous fuel from a mature and commercialized biomass gasifier was fed to the SOFC stack, and its thermal energy was utilized to the extreme by gas expanders and the KC. The proposed hybrid system was investigated by building a complete system-level model based on uniting zero-dimensional components models. Performance evaluation of the hybrid system was presented by performing energy and exergy analyses of the subunits and overall system. The results showed that an energy efficiency of 64.2% for the hybrid system was got based on the lower heating value (LHV) of the gaseous fuel in a baseline operating condition. The analysis on exergy destruction in the main subunits indicated a potential for improvement in performance of the proposed system. For better understanding of the hybrid system, a study on parametric trends was presented to specify the best parameter ranges for system operation.