Optimal Design of a Biogas Fuelled MCFC System Integrated With an Anaerobic Digester

In this work, a biogas fuelled power generation system is considered. The system is constituted by a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) coupled with a micro gas turbine for electricity generation and supplying heat to an anaerobic digester which produces biogas from urban wastes. The work starts with a time dependent model of the digester, obtained from measured data, relating the waste characteristics with the biogas mass flow rate. The thermal flux required by the digester is also related to the waste disposal. The optimal design of the MCFC system is then investigated considering both thermodynamic and economic objective functions, calculated in a proper design condition. The effects of variation in fuel quality, ambient temperature and component performances are finally analyzed.