Modeling and simulation of a DG-SOFC-MGT hybrid system

This paper describes the modeling and the simulation of an advanced gasification power plant composed of a Downdraft Gasifier (DG) and a Solid Oxide Fuel Cells - Micro Gas Turbine unit (SOFC-MGT). The gasifier converts the woodsy biomass into syngas that it is cooled and filtered before entering in a compressed storage tanks sub-system. A hybrid SOFC-MGT unit uses the stored syngas to produce electrical energy that it is sent to the electrical grid. The system has been modeled starting from literature. The simulations were made for different types of woodsy biomass over a year long period. Poplar, peach tree and vineyards pruning have been adopted with a variable moisture content ranging from 5% to 30%. The electrical energy produced and the overall electrical efficiency have been calculated setting the biomass consumption to 187 kg/hour for different biomasses and moistures scenarios. Maintenance of the gasifier has taken into account imposing a cycle of 120 hours of operating and 12 hours of maintenance. Starting from that, the storage sub-system has been design to assure the continuous operation of the SOFC-MGT unit all over the annual simulation. Sensitive analysis of the performance of the system varying the biomass type and the biomass moisture have been developed in order to find the best working conditions. Moreover, the annual energy balance of the system has been evaluated with these conditions to point out where the most relevant energy losses take place. Results show that the maximum overall electrical efficiency is around 33.5% for poplar biomass with 10% of moisture. In this scenario the average electrical power production is about 223 kW, the annual electrical energy amount sent to the grid is about 1956 MWh. In this conditions, the 42% of the chemical energy of the biomass is lost in the SOFC-MGT unit.