This paper analyzes the dynamic behaviour of a 50 kW stack using planar co-flow solid oxide fuel cells with direct internal reforming fuelled by a biologically derived gaseous mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. The system modelled is composed by the SOFC stack, a catalytic burner, the heat recovery system and the control device aimed to keep the air temperature at the stack exit and the fuel utilization near to the set values. The model has been implemented using standard and user-defined components of an a-causal software based on the open-source Modelica modelling language. After a brief introduction to the production of the gaseous fuel derived from the anaerobic digestion of pig manure, data obtained from a case study on a pig farm situated in Lombardia (Italy) are presented, focusing on the yield of methane which can be exploited. The steady-state performance of the SOFC system fuelled by pure methane are compared with those obtained for the biogas working conditions, showing that the stack voltage is affected by greater concentration losses. Then, starting from a steady-state delivered current of 750 mA cm−2, the dynamic behaviour of the system when a load change of −150 mA cm−2 occurs is investigated for both pure methane and biogas fuelling hypothesis. The results of the simulations show that the transient phase is only marginally affected by the composition of the fuel, which causes a delay of about 50 s in the voltage transient. Finally, the effect obtained by imposing a linear variation in the fuel composition, which can be representative of a modification in the biological degradation of the organic substrate within the anaerobic digester, is discussed. After an initial transient, which is comparable with that obtained for a variation in the load current, the SOFC system is capable to restore the initial delivered power, provided that the required amount of fuel can be supplied to the anode.
Characteristics of Methanol-O2 Catalytic Burner according to Oxidant Supply Method
