Integrated Biomass – Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cogeneration (WoodGas-SOFC 2)

Scope of project

This proposal follows up on the project WoodGas-SOFC (2007-2010), where the following tasks were accomplished: establishment of a system model of the whole process chain (wood gasification – gas cleaning units – reformer units – solid oxide fuel cell) evaluating different configurations; methodology of trace analysis of real wood gas; set-up of test rigs for catalysis and single cells for individual studies of contaminants; demo runs of SOFC stacks with real wood gas treated with a cyclone filter and a partial oxidation cracker (CPO). From these results and others emerging elsewhere in parallel (e.g. coal gas contaminant studies), it has become evident that the gas cleaning section requires an in depth investigation. This is the subject of WoodGas-SOFC 2.

The background is the development of a 1 MWth scale biomass cogeneration plant using wood as fuel and combining the 3 key units of gasification, cleaning and a solid oxide fuel cell. The wider perspective ultimately targets a pilot scale demonstration plant of 1 MWth in order to define the specifications of a commercial process. The hot gas cleaning system integration has been identified as the most critical topic.