A techno-economic analysis of biomass gasifiers integrated with high and intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells

In this paper the ECLIPSE process simulation package is used to model and make a techno-economic analysis of a range of systems that combine biomass gasification with SOFC stacks. Two forms of the SOFC are considered: the intermediate temperature (IT) solid oxide fuel cell and the standard high-temperature solid oxide fuel cell. The biomass gasification technology, which was selected for integration with the SOFC stacks, was the air-blown downdraught gasifier, because of its simplicity and relative cheapness. Willow and miscanthus were taken as the biomass fuels for the power plants. In addition, the sensitivity of the COE to variations in the fuel cost, the fuel cell cost, the fuel cell lifetime, and the waste heat selling price were examined and compared. From the ECLIPSE simulations, the efficiencies of both the HT and IT 250kWe systems were found to be around 39% when willow was used as fuel and around 38% with miscanthus, the difference being due to moisture content, rather than any intrinsic property of the biomass. Similarly, for the 25-kWe systems, the efficiencies were found to be around 35 and 34% respectively. These values are higher than for any other biomass-fired electricity generation technologies of similar scale. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.