EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF A SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL STACK COUPLED WITH BIOMASS GASIFICATION

Thermal gasification and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technologies represent an interesting combination for power generation, as high fuel flexibility and high electric efficiencies are expected. The TwoStage gasifier is a high-efficient downdraft gasifier fueled by wood chips that produces a very clean product gas with virtually no tar. This study operated an 800 We SOFC stack with product gas from the TwoStage gasifier for a total of 145 hours. Only minimal gas conditioning was used, including a bag filter, carbon filter, humidifier and desulphuriser. The obtained results show excellent part-load performance at 55% flow for the SOFC, with no loss in efficiency. High SOFC electric efficiencies up to 46.4% were measured at a fuel utilisation up to 90%, the highest reported values of such a system. The gasifier-SOFC system efficiency was estimated to 38-43%. No significant losses in SOFC performance were observed during the hours of operation.