Steady state simulation of energy production from biomass by molten carbonate fuel cells

This paper presents an integrated approach to the steady state simulation of biomass gasification, fuel cells and power generation processes. Attention is devoted to molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) due to the relative low cost, simpler construction and flexibility in the use of fuel. A steady state model simulating a global MCFC power plant based on real plants data is described and the simulations are selected according to real operating conditions. The software developed allows to study ‘ìn silico’ the effect of variations of the process conditions as well as modification of the input fuel, thus providing a useful tool for supporting technical decisions and feasibility study on the use of fuel cells in developing countries. The paper reports results of computer simulation focusing on macroscopic quantities of interest such as stack efficiency, global process electrical efficiency, cogenerative efficiency. The computer simulation is applied to a feasibility study of a MCFC coupled with a biomass gasification module focusing on the energy consumption of the process and reporting comparison of the energy efficiency for three kinds of biomass.