Technoeconomic and environmental performance assessment of solid oxide fuel cell-based cogeneration system configurations

Roy, Dibyendu; Samanta, Samiran; Roy, Sumit; Smallbone, Andrew; Roskilly, Anthony Paul

Abstract

In this study, an innovative energy solution to fulfil the electricity and heating needs of a mixed community, including residences, a commercial building, and a small brewery has been investigated. The primary objective is to comprehensively analyse the technoeconomic, and environmental aspects of a UK-based solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) energy hub designed for local-scale electricity and heating demands. This present study investigates two different configurations: (a) SOFC-based cogeneration and (b) SOFC-heat pump cogeneration configuration. These configurations are modelled to provide year-round electricity and heating for a local scale application and are evaluated using hydrogen and natural gas as fuels. A thorough environmental assessment is also conducted for SOFC and SOFC-heat pump system configurations fuelled by natural gas. The hydrogen fuelled SOFC-heat pump configuration outperforms other system configuration with energy efficiency of 96 %. Meanwhile, the hydrogen-fuelled SOFC cogeneration system yields maximum exergy efficiency at 61.51 %. The natural gas-powered SOFC-heat pump cogeneration system yields the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) at 0.1603 £/kWh, in comparison to the higher LCOE of 0.213 £/kWh for the alkaline hydrogen-fuelled system. The natural gas-fuelled SOFC system emits 0.3352 kg/kWh of CO2, with even lower emissions of 0.275 kg/kWh for the SOFC-heat pump system configuration.

Citation

Roy, D., Samanta, S., Roy, S., Smallbone, A., & Roskilly, A. P. (2024). Technoeconomic and environmental performance assessment of solid oxide fuel cell-based cogeneration system configurations. Energy, 310, Article 133145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2024.133145

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 8, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 16, 2024
• Publication Date: Nov 30, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 9, 2024
• Journal: Energy
• Print ISSN: 0360-5442
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 310
• Article Number: 133145
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2024.133145
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2952158