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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...
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The anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and the biogas production obtained from its stabilization are becoming an increasingly attractive solution, due to their beneficial effects on the environment. In this way, the waste is considered a resource allowing a reduction in the quantity of it going to landfills and the...
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... Biomass fed solid oxide fuel cells can provide suitable thermal and electrical energy with high efficiency in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems. Borello et al. presented that SOFC with biogas usage can provide 317 GJ/y of thermal energy, 3780 GJ/y of electrical energy with a 55% electrical efficiency in CHP mode [19]. The investigations conducted in the field of syngas injection show that fuelling an SOFC system with syngas from gasification increases the overall generated power of the system in steady condition [20]. ...
... at the pre-reformer's temperature, resulted in a 66.8% CH 4 conversion in both cases of 250 and 750 m 3 ·h −1 biogas supply, which is in accordance to relevant literature [54]. ...
Based upon the thermodynamic simulation of a biogas-SOFC integrated process and the costing of its elements, the present work examines the economic feasibility of biogas-SOFCs for combined heat and power (CHP) generation, by the comparison of their economic performance against the conventional biogas-CHP with internal combustion engines (ICEs), under the same assumptions. As well as the issues of process scale and an SOFC's cost, examined in the literature, the study brings up the determinative effects of: (i) the employed SOFC size, with respect to its operational point, as well as (ii) the feasibility criterion, on the feasibility assessment. Two plant capacities were examined (250 m 3 ·h −1 and 750 m 3 ·h −1 biogas production), and their feasibilities were assessed by the Internal Rate of Return (IRR), the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Pay Back Time (PBT) criteria. For SOFC costs at 1100 and 2000 EUR·kW el −1 , foreseen in 2035 and 2030, respectively, SOFCs were found to increase investment (by 2.5-4.5 times, depending upon a plant's capacity and the SOFC's size) and power generation (by 13-57%, depending upon the SOFC's size), the latter increasing revenues. SOFC-CHP exhibits considerably lower IRRs (5.3-13.4% for the small and 16.8-25.3% for the larger plant), compared to ICE-CHP (34.4%). Nonetheless, according to NPV that does not evaluate profitability as a return on investment, small scale biogas-SOFCs (NPV max : EUR 3.07 M) can compete with biogas-ICE (NPV: EUR 3.42 M), for SOFCs sized to operate at 70% of the maximum power density (MPD) and with a SOFC cost of 1100 EUR·kW el −1 , whereas for larger plants, SOFC-CHP can lead to considerably higher NPVs (EUR 12.5-21.0 M) compared to biogas-ICE (EUR 9.3 M). Nonetheless, PBTs are higher for SOFC-CHP (7.7-11.1 yr and 4.2-5.7 yr for the small and the large plant, respectively, compared to 2.3 yr and 3.1 yr for biogas-ICE) because the criterion suppresses the effect of SOFC-CHP-increased revenues to a time period shorter than the plant's lifetime. Finally, the economics of SOFC-CHP are optimized for SOFCs sized to operate at 70-82.5% of their MPD, depending upon the SOFC cost and the feasibility criterion. Overall, the choice of the feasibility criterion and the size of the employed SOFC can drastically affect the economic evaluation of SOFC-CHP, whereas the feasibility criterion also determines the economically optimum size of the employed SOFC.
... For example, the solar energy, biogas and electric energy-heating system, the solar energy collection, air source heat pump and electric heating parallel-biogas fermentation heating system, and the solar energy collection, air source heat pump and power generation waste heat parallel-biogas fermentation heating system [57][58][59]. In addition to the above, biogas and solar energy are mixed to generate electricity, and biogas is heated and fermented using the waste heat from power generation [60,61]. ...
Several factors affect biogas fermentation, among which the temperature fluctuation is crucial. Domestic and foreign biogas fermentation heating systems are also diverse. Among various exist methods of heating biogas fermentation, solar biogas fermentation heating systems are also diverse. The current study reviewed various solar-heating biogas fermentation systems at home and abroad, describing the principle of the solar-heating system, the collector, the heat storage material and the research and application progress. It briefly discussed its characteristics, summarising the critical technology of solar biogas heating systems.
... In addition to solar energy, various studies (including [93], [94], [95], [96], [97], [98], [99], [100], [101], [102], [103], [104]) address bio energy. [94], [96], [97], provide technical designs and models for bio-based energy communities. ...
... In addition to solar energy, various studies (including [93], [94], [95], [96], [97], [98], [99], [100], [101], [102], [103], [104]) address bio energy. [94], [96], [97], provide technical designs and models for bio-based energy communities. Studies such as [104], [103] and [100] study domestic availability of bio-energy (e.g. ...
Energy communities are decentralized socio-technical systems where energy is jointly generated and distributed among a community of households locally. As the energy that is shared among the community is commonly electricity, the energy community's literature is dominated by electricity-systems and mostly neglects collective thermal energy as an alternative energy carrier for heating and cooling. Our goal in this article is to organise the existing research on “community-based initiatives for heating and cooling ” by using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, and based on this analysis, identify a future research agenda. Our analysis reveals that the number of publications in this area has been growing fast recently, focusing on technological challenges. Fewer papers take an institutional point of view, in which they cover policies, price reforms and values. The institutionally oriented papers focus on solar thermal energy and bio-based thermal energy. Other thermal technologies, such as geothermal wells, are largely neglected in the literature, but are known to have different institutional constraints. Informal rules and values are mainly researched from a consumer perspective. Since energy communities often consist of consumers and prosumers, additional research is warranted into this area. Evaluative criteria for such communities are limited to economic aspects and greenhouse gas emissions, while indicators such as soil pollution and spatial planning that may play an equally important role are neglected. We recommend studying thermal energy communities as distinctive entities with their own unique characteristics, and we develop a research agenda for this purpose.
... In this study, the integrated processes are examined using simulation software, and the effect of dry or wet biomass fuel on the exergy efficiency of the combined cycle was evaluated. Borello et al. (2013) presented a power and heat generation system based on solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC). In this study, the simulation of the proposed cycle has been performed using ASPEN software. ...
... In this study, the integrated processes are examined using simulation software, and the effect of dry or wet biomass fuel on the exergy efficiency of the combined cycle was evaluated. Borello et al. (2013) presented a power and heat generation system based on solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC). In this study, the simulation of the proposed cycle has been performed using ASPEN software. ...
One of the vital problems is access to energy systems that produce
multiple products simultaneously. This paper aims to provide an optimal power
plant that simultaneously generates cooling and heating loads, power, natural
gas, and hydrogen. The proposed cycle includes various thermodynamic
processes. The proposed system was evaluated using thermodynamics’s first
and second laws. In this research, Thermoflex software was used for system
evaluation. Finally, multi-objective optimisation is performed to achieve
maximum efficiency.
... x x x BORELLO [40] 2013 ...
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology is of high interest for stationary decentralized generation of electricity and heat in combined heat and power systems (CHP) for the residential sector. Application scenarios for SOFC systems in an electricity-regulated mode play an important role, especially in places where an electrical grid connection is not available or rather unstable. The advantages of SOFC systems are the high fuel flexibility and the high efficiencies also under partial load operation compared to other decentralized power generation technologies. Due to the long, energy-consuming system heat-up and the limited partial load capability, SOFC systems do not reach the performance of conventional power generation technologies. Furthermore, stack thermal cycling is associated with power degradation and should be minimized. In this paper, the improvement of these drawbacks are investigated for hotbox-based SOFC systems in the 1 kWel-class for residential applications. Since experimental investigations of the high-temperature systems are limited, modeling tools are established, enabling the visualization of internal system characteristics and providing the opportunity to simulate system operation in critical regions. To achieve this, a methodology for dynamic SOFC system modeling in a process engineering manner is developed based on the modeling language Modelica. A suitable approach is particularly important for modeling and simulation of the strong thermal interaction between the hot system components within the hotbox. The parametrized and validated models are used for the investigation of different dynamic effects, such as the system heat-up and the operation in low partial load points. A second reduced thermal system model aims for annual simulations of the SOFC system together with a battery to investigate the number of thermal cycles and the advantage of a hot standby operation. As a result, it is found that an adequate control of the power input at the start-up device and the cathode air flow has a high improvement potential to increase the stack heating rate and accelerate the heat-up in an energy-saving way. The hotbox-internal thermal management is identified as a crucial issue to reach low partial load points. To avoid the risk of stack cooling, lower heat losses and/or additional heat sources are of importance. Furthermore, the robustness of the tail gas oxidizer is found to be crucial for a higher load flexibility during partial load and the end of life stack operation. The annual simulation results indicate that operating the battery hybrid system with a hot standby mode requires much lower battery capacity for a high grid independence and a complete avoidance of system shutdown and associated power degradation.
... The energy systems, which are used in buildings for heating and cooling requirements, should integrate renewable systems in order to improve their energy performances and to be more environmentally friendly [5]. In literature, there are many investigations of systems, which reduce energy consumption. ...
In this work, two underfloor solar assisted heating systems without and with phase change materials (PCMs) are investigated energetically for a building of 100 m2 floor area, which is situated in Athens, (Greece). The simulations are conducted with the commercial software TRNSYS 17. More analytically, flat plate collectors coupled to a storage tank are used while there is, in the first system, an auxiliary heater and in the second system, a heat pump, for supplying the extra heating demand when the solar potential is not sufficient. The PCM layer is situated below the underfloor heating system in order to increase the storage capacity. Moreover, this study compares the indoor temperature profiles of the building with and without a PCM layer on the floor and specifically in different cases by changing the area of the collectors and the thickness of the insulation layer. The results showed that the electrical energy consumption decreases on average 70% and 41% for the system with an auxiliary heater and for the system with heat pump respectively. Moreover, the application of the PCM layer on the floor in both systems gives an increase of the indoor temperature about 2oC into the limits of thermal comfort.
... The SOFC stack produced an average power of 774 kW that increased to 848 kW using a waste energy recovery unit. Borello et al. [33] demonstrated 150 kWe in combined heat and power (CHP) SOFC plant fueled by biogas and solar energy can save a considerable amount of biogas that represent 4% of anaerobic digester productivity. A case study on the integration of SOFCs into biogas units in waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) was investigated by Trendewicz et al. [34]. ...
Fuel cells (FCs) are electrochemical devices that can be used for the direct generation of electrical energy from the chemical energy in fuels with high efficiency, and low or no environmental impact. In particular, high temperature FCs such as solid oxide FCs (SOFCs) are also recognized for their cost-effectiveness and the fact that they can be fed with complex fuels such as methane or biogas which makes them ideal technologies for simultaneous waste treatment and energy generation. Directly fed SOFCs are known as direct internal reforming SOFCs (DIR SOFC) where the reforming of the biogas fuel occurs at the inlet of the cell producing carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which consequently react with oxygen ions along the anode side, and thereby producing electricity. DIR SOFCs integrated with biogas fermenter in wastewater treatment plants or other biological processes offer a window of opportunity for widespread utilization of SOFCs on commercial scale as a green energy source capable of producing several kWs to MWs. However, the performance degradation rate is one of the key issues that directly affects the long-term costs of SOFCs. In addition to the traditional problems, i.e. thermal cycling, oxidation cycling, and incompatibility of components, the DIR biogas SOFC is also affected by the thermal stresses resulting from endothermic reforming reactions and exothermic electrochemical oxidation reactions at the anode surface, the formation of carbon deposits, and the poisoning with impurities such as H2S, siloxanes, and halides. This review paper presents an up-to-date summary of the different processes and mechanisms leading to most of the issues encountered with the operation of DIR biogas SOFC, and advises on the methods and strategies that can be applied to mitigate these problems.
... al. [176] demonstrated that an SOFC can be effectively used to produce a DC current with 56% energy conversion efficiency using a biogas composition of 62% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 gas turbines, using an FU of 90% and a stack pressure of 4-5 bar. Borello et al. [180] [180] studied the integration of a solar collector and a thermal storage tank into a 150-kWe CHP SOFC plant fueled by biogas. The results demonstrated that 90% of the heat recovered in the SOFC is used for preheating purposes in the SOFC, and only 10% is available for other uses. ...
The anaerobic digestion of organic materials into biogas and fertilizer is an effective method for simultaneous solid waste management and energy generation. Traditional ways that are based on combustion of the biogas and/or the production of bio-methane are inefficient and complicated, respectively. Fuel cells (FCs) are electrochemical devices that can be used for the direct electrical generation of fuels with high efficiency with low or no environmental impacts. High temperature FCs such as solid oxide FCs (SOFCs) are inexpensive and could be fed with complex fuels such as methane or biogas. SOFCs are considered to be an ideal devices that can be used for the direct conversion of chemical energy of biogas into electricity with high efficiency. Directly fed SOFCs are known as direct internal reforming SOFCs (DIR-SOFC) where the reforming of the biogas occurs at the inlet of the cell producing CO and H2 which are consequently reacted along the anode side with oxygen ions, thereby producing electricity. The main challenges facing the development of DIR-SOFCs are (i) carbon deposition, (ii) thermal stresses, and (iii) poisoning with contaminants such as sulfur, halogens and siloxanes. Moreover, the exergy analysis of SOFC units usually refers to the ambient conditions that should be revised using the effective operating temperature which would be more realistic in the calculations. This review paper summarizes the up-to-date achievements of the different ways in which to overcome the challenges of direct internal reforming (DIR) biogas SOFC for example thermal stresses, carbon deposition, and impurities such as sulfur, chlorine, and siloxanes. Moreover, an exergy analysis of high temperature emphasizes the use of the effective temperature instead of the standard one as the latter would lead to significant errors in calculations. At the end of this review, conclusions and concluding remarks are included. Due to the importance of SOFCs, especially in simultaneous waste management and power generation, several review papers summarized the progress in SOFCs, for example, materials and components, interconnects, integration with steam and gas turbines, stacking, low temperature electrolytes, and mathematical models for SOFCs. However no report covered the challenges facing the commercialization of DIR biogas SOFCs and the different methods to overcome such challenges. This review summarizes the up-to-date achievements of the different ways in which to overcome those challenges including thermal stresses, carbon deposition, and impurities such as sulfur, chlorine, and siloxanes. Moreover, an exergy analysis of high temperature emphasizes the use of the effective temperature instead of the standard one, as the latter would lead to significant errors in calculations. Thank you for your time and consideration, and we look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely Yours, Abstract The anaerobic digestion of organic materials into biogas and fertilizer is an effective method for simultaneous solid waste management and energy generation. Traditional ways that are based on combustion of the biogas and/or the production of bio-methane are inefficient and complicated, respectively. Fuel cells (FCs) are electrochemical devices that can be used for the direct electrical generation of fuels with high efficiency with low or no environmental impacts. High temperature FCs such as solid oxide FCs (SOFCs) are inexpensive and could be fed with complex fuels such as methane or biogas. SOFCs are considered to be an ideal devices that can be used for the direct conversion of chemical energy of biogas into electricity with high efficiency. Directly fed SOFCs are known as direct internal reforming SOFCs (DIR-SOFC) where the reforming of the biogas occurs at the inlet of the cell producing CO and H 2 which are consequently reacted along the anode side with oxygen ions, thereby producing electricity. The main challenges facing the development of DIR-SOFCs are (i) carbon deposition, (ii) thermal stresses, and (iii) poisoning with contaminants such as sulfur, halogens and siloxanes. Moreover, the exergy analysis of SOFC units usually refers to the ambient conditions that should be revised using the effective operating temperature which would be more realistic in the calculations. This review paper summarizes the up-to-date achievements of the different ways in which to overcome the challenges of direct internal reforming (DIR) biogas SOFC for example thermal stresses, carbon deposition, and impurities such as sulfur, chlorine, and siloxanes. Moreover, an exergy analysis of high temperature emphasizes the use of the effective temperature instead of the standard one as the latter would lead to significant errors in calculations. At the end of this review, * Corresponding authors; mabdulkareem@sharjah.ac.ae; +971-6-5053917 and waqas.hassan@smme.edu.pk. The two authors have equal contribution. conclusions and concluding remarks are included.
