Economic analysis of a solid oxide fuel cell cogeneration/trigeneration system for hotels in Hong Kong

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is promising for efficient stationary power generation. The high temperature waste heat from SOFC stack can be recovered for cogeneration/trigeneration.Due to the lack of relevant analysis on SOFC system in Hong Kong, this research is purposely designed to investigate the economics of a SOFC-absorption cooling cogeneration/trigeneration system for building application in Hong Kong. Energy consumption profile of Hotel ICON is adopted for a case study. Existing products of SOFC server and absorption chiller are chosen to configure the system. It is found that the payback period is less than 6 years with the Government subsidy at 50% of the overall system cost for a trigeneration system. Sensitivity analyses show that increases in the rate of electricity and the level of government subsidy increase the payback period of SOFC systems in Hong Kong.Besides certain technological difficulties, obstacles on the way to realize the proposed cogeneration/trigeneration system in Hong Kong are legal and social constraints and space limitation as well. This study highlights the suitability and the environmental impact of the SOFC-based multi-generation for building application in Hong Kong.

A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)-Based Biogas-from-Waste Generation System for Residential Buildings in China: A Feasibility Study

“…The initial cost of one-stage chiller products is $92,000 according to [23], while the two-stage chiller products are slighter higher (30%). Thus, the SOFC subsystem's initial costs including LiBr-H 2 O absorption central air conditioning is $120,000, in addition to a water-heating unit ($100,000) [11]. Furthermore, the costs of auxiliary components (e.g., transformers, exhaust-flow controllers, etc.)…”

“…A SOFC is an electrochemical-conversion DER device that produces electricity directly from a highly efficient and eco-friendly process of fuel oxidation, and has high fuel-flexibility, high energy efficiency, low environmental impact, and a long lifespan [7][8][9]. Prior research has found biogas to have great potential as fuel for SOFCs, with energy efficiency of 55-65% or better [10], and that SOFC-based multi-generation systems can achieve higher efficiency (72-90%) than traditional thermal power generators (35-45%) [11], in addition to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and gaseous pollutants (e.g., NO x and SO 2 ) [12].…”

“…Unfortunately, there are high costs associated with the current SOFC designs and their degradation over the long timescales needed for commercial application [11]. The demand for cleaner, sustainable, secure and efficient processes for energy conversion drives solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) research [13].…”

A Process for the Implementation of New Renewable Energy Systems in a Building by Considering Environmental and Economic Effect

“…According to the previous studies [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58], which assessed the economic and environmental effects of the FC system, it was determined that there were complex correlations among the key factors affecting the energy performance of the FC system. As shown in Table 1, these key factors mostly consist of system factors.…”

An Economic and Environmental Assessment Model for Selecting the Optimal Implementation Strategy of Fuel Cell Systems—A Focus on Building Energy Policy

“…First, the economic effects of the fuel cell system were analyzed under various conditions [55][56][57][58][59][60][61]. Mahlia et al [55] assessed the economic effect of a 1 kW PEMFC system for a household in Malaysia.…”