Abstract
Fuel-flexible solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technologies are presently under study in a Vietnam-Japan international joint research project. The purpose of this project is to develop and demonstrate an SOFC-incorporated energy circulation system for the sustainable development of the Mekong Delta region. Lab-scale methane fermentation experiments in this study with a mixture of biomass feedstock collected in the Mekong Delta (shrimp pond sludge, bagasse and molasses from sugar production) recorded biogas production yield over 400 L kgVS-1 with H2S concentration below 50 ppm level. This real biogas was directly supplied to an SOFC without any fuel processing such as desulfurization, methane enrichment and pre-reforming, and stable power generation was achieved by applying paper-structured catalyst (PSC) technology.
Highlights
The rapid economic growth of ASEAN countries is causing (I) environmental pollution due to the increase in volume of organic waste and (II) unstable supply of electricity
The present study investigated the optimal conditions for methane fermentation to achieve stable biogas production from the biomass feedstock of the Mekong Delta
In the Mekong Delta, large amounts of residual biomass are aggregated during shrimp culture and sugar production, which are key industries of this region
Summary
The rapid economic growth of ASEAN countries is causing (I) environmental pollution due to the increase in volume of organic waste and (II) unstable supply of electricity. As the main agricultural zone in Vietnam, the Mekong Delta accounts for more than 50% of the country’s agricultural production (50% of the rice, 70% of the fruit and 52% of the seafood products in 2011), and plays an important role in nationwide economic growth and food security (Garschagen et al, 2012; Nguyen and Ye, 2015) This region is rich in unutilized biomass resources such as sludge discharged from shrimp and catfish culture and residue of sugar production (bagasse and molasses), which have the potential to satisfy the local energy demand. In April 2015, we started the project “Sustainable Development of Rural Area by Effective Utilization of Bio-wastes with Highly Efficient Fuel Cell Technology” within the framework of the Science and Technology Research Partnership for SOFC with Mekong Delta Biomass
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