Energetic and Economic Analyses of Integrated Biogas-Fed Energy Systems

Abstract

The process which includes production, collection, carriage and transformation of biomass into renewable fuels and then into energy (both electrical and thermal) involves a large number of decisions to select the most efficient plant layout. In order to identify the optimal solutions, models which simulate the whole process represent a useful and practical tool. In this paper, the energetic and economic analysis of the entire process from biomass to energy production is presented. Among the different transformation processes, the thermophilic batch anaerobic digestion is considered in this paper. A sensitivity analysis on system profitability is carried out with respect to the mass of biomass, number of batch digesters and retention time of the biomass inside each digester. Moreover, two different types of biomass (ensiled corn and organic fraction of municipal solid wastes) and two different energy systems (Micro Gas Turbine and Internal Combustion Engine) are considered.