Unlocking unused bio-WASTE resources with loW cost cleAning and Thermal inTegration with Solid oxide fuel cells

ended

WASTE2WATTS (W2W) will design and engineer an integrated biogas-Solid Oxide Fuel Cell combined heat and power system with minimal gas pre-processing, focusing on low-cost biogas pollutant removal and optimal thermal system integration. Eleven partners from 4 leading biogas countries join efforts to these objectives: 2 biogas cleaning SMEs, 3 SOFC manufacturing SMEs, a biogas expert SME and 5 leading research and education centres in SOFC characterisation and modelling, and in biogas use as a fuel. Two cleaning approaches and hardware will be developed: one for small scale units (5-50 kWe), where a huge unutilised biogas potential resides (millions of farms, bio-wastes from municipalities) - here sulphur compounds (H2S and organic S) are removed by an appropriate solid sorbent matrix; one for medium-to-large scale units (≥500 kWe), which is the existing scale of landfill biogas and large bio-waste collection schemes - here sulphur compounds and siloxanes are removed among others by a novel cooling approach. For both cases the hardware will be built and installed on real biogas-sites treating different wastes. Gas analytics will validate the approaches. A 6 kWe SOFC system from a partner will run on a real agro-biogas site connected to the small scale sorbents cleaning unit. Cost projections for high volume production for both the cleaning and SOFC systems will be conducted. A detailed full system model will be implemented, considering the biogas feedstock, composition fluctuations (and dilution) and pollutant signatures, and optimizing thermal integration with biogas-inherent CO2 (for dry-dominant reforming) and digester heating, with the targets to maximise net electrical efficiency and minimise cost. An Advisory Board consisting of biogas producing SMEs will accompany the project to facilitate market access and support the post-project multiplication of the developed solutions.