Integration of solar dryer with a hybrid system of gasifier‐solid oxide fuel cell/micro gas turbine: Energy, economy, and environmental analysis

Abstract

A novel approach is presented to reduce the moisture content of biomass by employing a solar dryer. The impact of decreasing moisture contents on the key parameters of the system is investigated. Also, the effect of air mass flux on drying rate of biomass is evaluated and discussed considering three alternative air mass flux rates as well as two different time periods for drying and discharging biomass, namely 15 and 30 min. Results demonstrate that moisture reduction improves the output power and efficiency of the system from 265 kW and 30% up to 295 kW and 57.6%, respectively; in other words, employing solar dryer leads to an improvement of electrical efficiency up to 27.6%. The best efficiency performance of system is achieved by the 15 min drain time and air mass flux of 0.011 kgm−2s−1, while the best power generation of the system will be obtained by the 30 min drain time and air mass flux of 0.011 kgm−2s−1. Furthermore, the levelized cost of electricity analysis exhibits 0.39 $/kWh at the best performance of the system. The environmental analysis shows that the designed power plant has the potential to drop up to 721 tons of CO2/year, which has yielded an environmental benefit of 17,304 $/year when compared to a coal‐fired power plant of the same capacity.

Energy, exergy, environment and techno-economic analysis of parabolic trough collector: A comprehensive review

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Three‐dimensional numerical modelling of a fast fluidized bed biomass gasifier to generate energy from wastes

“…[ 4 ] This method can help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and prevent adverse climate change. [ 5 ] One of the various types of biomass compounds is urban waste. Waste can be defined as a solid, liquid, or gas (other than sewage) that is produced directly or indirectly from human activities and is not usable from the producer's point of view.…”

Evaluation of performance improvement of the combined biomass gasifier power cycle using low‐temperature bottoming cycles: Organic Rankine cycle, Kalina and Goswami

“…Meanwhile, these power plants are promising in the energy‐intensive industries, especially when cooling loads demand occurs, where supplying electricity for cooling equipment is costly. Therefore, presenting innovative solutions to improve the efficiency of conventional combined power plants using advanced cycles and utilizing the recycled heat of conventional topping cycles can lead to the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly energy systems 3,4 …”

“…Therefore, presenting innovative solutions to improve the efficiency of conventional combined power plants using advanced cycles and utilizing the recycled heat of conventional topping cycles can lead to the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly energy systems. 3,4 In addition, low-temperature cycles that operate with the different working fluids are conveniently suitable for recovering heat from steam turbines in small and medium power plants in the capacity range of hundreds of kilowatts. In fact, instead of water, organic chemicals with desirable thermodynamic properties are used in these cycles so that the enthalpy drop is much lower.…”