Hybrid Solar-biomass Research Articles

Advanced exergoeconomic analysis of solar-biomass hybrid systems for multi-energy generation

Advanced exergoeconomic analysis of solar-biomass hybrid systems for multi-energy generation

Thermophotovoltaic systems for achieving high-solar-fraction hybrid solar-biomass power generation

Medium operating temperature hybrid solar-biomass TPV power plant design requires complex integration of multiple high temperature processes with low band-gap TPV cells. A 0.72 eV band-gap GaSb TPV cell has been used in thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems operating at temperatures above 1400 °C. Low band-gap TPV cells, such as InGaAs (Eg = 0.55 eV) and InAs (Eg = 0.36 eV) could enable a TPV system to operate optimally at temperatures ≈1000 °C. To examine this, two hybrid solar-biomass TPV system configurations are studied using TRNSYS simulation that incorporates a new algorithm for TPV. It is found that in a high solar fraction CSP power plant, a TPV system could recover surplus thermal energy gained from solar energy at mid-days that would otherwise be unused.

Economic appraisal of hybrid solar–biomass thermophotovoltaic power generation

The techno-economic parameters that influence the commercial deployment of hybrid thermophotovoltaic (TPV) solar power generation are determined using annual system simulations. It has been found that a TPV cell price of €5/cm2 or less together with a TPV operating temperature under 800°C is required for a hybrid solar–biomass TPV power plant to be economically competitive with the state-of-the-art hybrid solar–biomass Rankine cycle power plants.

Thermo-economic evaluation of actively selected siloxane mixtures in a hybrid solar-biomass organic Rankine cycle power plant

This study aims to evaluate thermo-economic implications of implementing siloxane mixtures as organic Rankine cycle (ORC) working fluids for hybrid solar-biomass applications. Next to active selection of suitable mixtures and their thermodynamic evaluations, ORC components were sized under process conditions of different fluid studied. The main paper contribution concerns integrated off-design economic analysis of working-fluid mixtures in ORC. By comparing the studied mixtures with pure MM (hexamethyldisiloxane), results showed that 0.9MM/0.1MDM (octamethyltrisiloxane) and 0.8MM/0.2MDM increase net ORC power by 2% and 1.4% respectively, while 0.1MM/0.9MDM reduces net power by 1.3%. Also, specific exergy cost of power production increases by 3.7%, 1.9% and 1% for 0.1MM/0.9MDM, 0.8MM/0.2MDM and 0.9MM/0.1MDM, respectively. Furthermore, after implementing off-design models, increase in annual net energy production of 2.3%, 3.2% and 5.2% were obtained for 0.1MM/0.9MDM, 0.8MM/0.2MDM and 0.9MM/0.1MDM, respectively. However, these thermodynamic advantages do not translate to better economic performance. Exemplarily for the most thermodynamically efficient mixture (0.9MM/0.1MDM), levelized cost of electricity and specific payback period increase by 8% and 13% respectively, while net present value reduces by 15.7%, relative to pure MM. Thus, caution should be exercised when considering the use of selected siloxane mixtures as ORC working fluid in high-temperature applications such as solar/biomass.

Extensive Performance Evaluation Of a 75Kg Solar-Biomass Hybrid Tunnel Dryer with Several Types of Agricultural Products

Extensive Performance Evaluation Of a 75Kg Solar-Biomass Hybrid Tunnel Dryer with Several Types of Agricultural Products

Microhybrid Electricity System for Energy Access, Livelihoods, and Empowerment

Ensuring reliable and affordable access to modern energy services, especially for the poorer and deprived section of the population, is a basic requisite for sustainable development. Given that a majority of the energy-deprived population lives in rural regions of developing countries, an effective rural electrification is critical for bridging the rural–urban divide. Building on energy access intervention, implementing productive energy services can influence the next stages of development through livelihood activities, microenterprises, lifestyle energy services, value-added activities, survival irrigation, and so on. Social benefits of access to healthcare, education, and longer productive hours have an equally important impact on sustainable development. In India, for example, 240 million people lack electricity access. While grid extension in India is on the rise through various government programs, specific rural problems of low energy demand, poor rural economy, inaccessible terrain, and low purchasing power can render grid extension expensive and inefficient. Microgrid electricity systems, especially with hybrid renewable energy resources, can be a good alternative for addressing above-mentioned challenges. India enjoys high solar intensity, and the predominantly agrarian rural society has enough biomass resources, abundant cattle dung, forest foliage, and agricultural waste. A solar–biomass hybrid electricity system can solve the problem of intermittency of solar. Such a hybrid electricity system is being implemented in a remote Indian unelectrified village for electricity access, livelihoods, and economic empowerment. In this paper, we report the technoeconomic feasibility and sustainability analysis of this hybrid system. The system consists of 30-kW solar photo voltaic (PV) and 20-kW biomass gasifier modules. Energy demand and resource availability are estimated with inputs from extensive stakeholder discussions and field surveys, and they account for daily and seasonal variations in both supply and end uses and availability and productive hours. The expected temporal electricity demand is estimated for households, community, irrigation, and commercial needs. The technoeconomic feasibility is assessed using hybrid optimization model for electric renewable energy (HOMER). Furthermore, opportunities for the development of productive uses and their expansion through a sustainable business model are explored.

Modeling and analysis of solar thermal and biomass hybrid power plants

Stand-alone renewable energy plants are usually unable to generate stable electrical power because of resource intermittency. Consequently, grid operators find it difficult to plan power supply. Employing electrical storage, thermal energy storage, and hybridization in stand-alone plants could provide some solutions. However, electrical and thermal storage have limitations at megawatt scales with major ones being not cost-effective and the increased solar field. Hybridization of multiple sources of renewable energy is a promising way to address intermittency issues.This paper presents thermodynamic modeling for sizing a steam Rankine cycle based solar–biomass hybrid power plant. Solar system uses parabolic trough technology, and biomass system uses fluidized bed combustion technology to generate steam for power generation. The biomass system plays a significant role in the hybrid operation during the solar intermittency periods. Also, the boiler in a stand-alone mode can generate power post sunshine hours to meet the power demand. Further, the paper presents a case study to emphasize parameters such as solar field area requirements, biomass requirements, system efficiency, intermittency aspects, capacity utilization factor, capex, and levelized cost of electricity for various scales of hybrid systems. The results suggest that hybridization could be a possible sustainable solution.

Design and simulation of a novel hybrid solar-biomass energy supply system in northwest China

Making full use of solar energy and biomass to supply clean energy for buildings can effectively reduce environmental pollution and optimize the energy industry structure. This research designed a novel hybrid solar-biomass energy supply system and evaluated its thermodynamic performance as well as its practical feasibility. The system mainly consists of a solar subsystem and a biomass subsystem and is used to supply heat energy for the anaerobic reactors and a nearby building. The daily excess biogas is used to provide cooking fuel to the surrounding households. The results indicate that the average annual energy efficiency and primary energy saving rate of the system are 25.18% and 94.98% respectively, and the carbon emissions reduction is about 2961.85 (tons/year). Compared with the reference systems, the system has obvious advantages in energy conservation and carbon emissions reduction. The sensitivity analysis shows that the increase of the area of the solar collector and the insulation thickness of the anaerobic reactors can obviously improve the energy efficiency of the system, while the energy efficiency of the biogas boiler gets worse. In addition, the proposed system has a good profitability with a payback period of 5.15 years. By optimizing the configuration, the life cycle cost of the system is reduced by 9.7% while the energy efficiency increases by 1.1%. Such a system is attractive, especially for rural areas in northwest China where the economic development is relatively slow, but the solar and biomass resources are quite abundant.

Effectiveness of the solar biomass hybrid dryer for drying and disinfestation of maize

The Solar Biomass Hybrid Dryer (SBHD) is a new technology developed in Ghana for grain drying and utilizes biomass (agro-residues, timber scraps, etc.) along with solar drying, and is especially useful for drying during rainy periods of the year when solar drying cannot be relied on. This study assessed the effectiveness of a 5.0-MT SBHD comprising a solar tent and a furnace for thermal drying and disinfestation of maize. Mortalities of adults of Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky), Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and Cryptolestes ferrugineus Stephens were assessed. Additionally, mortalities of immatures of these three species were assessed. Internal and cage temperatures (°C) in the SBHD, sun drying (SD) and laboratory (control) were monitored, as were moisture content (MC) and thermally (stress) damaged kernels (TDK) (%). During the 7-h experiment, mean internal temperatures in the SBHD, SD and laboratory were 52.3 ± 1.0 °C, 41.4 ± 0.8 °C and 30.3 ± 0.2 °C, respectively. Similarly, temperatures in cages in the SBHD (49.5 ± 1.0 °C) were higher than those for cages in the laboratory (29.9 ± 0.2 °C) and SD (38.2 ± 0.6 °C). Reduction in the moisture content of maize dried using SBHD, SD and under laboratory conditions were 7.7, 5.2 and 2.9%, respectively. This corresponded to grain MC reduction rates of 1.1%, 0.74% and 0.4% per hour. There was 100% mortality of S. zeamais and C. ferrugineus adults achieved in only the SBHD; some immatures of all three species survived in all three treatments. However, survival of immatures was highest in the laboratory, followed by SD and lowest in the SBHD for all three species. Percent TDK was higher in the SBHD (6.7 ± 0.9) than SD (3.3 ± 0.3) and laboratory (2.7 ± 0.3). These data show that the SBHD is effective for both drying and disinfestation of grain.

Environmental Assessment of a Hybrid Solar-Biomass Energy Supplying System: A Case Study.

Local energy supply by renewable energy, such as solar energy and biomass, using distributed energy systems plays an important role in global energy structure. This study investigated the environmental performance of a hybrid solar-biomass energy supplying system by life-cycle assessment method. The results showed that in terms of environmental and energy impacts, the construction stage and the disassembly and recycling stage of the system contribute little to the whole life-cycle environmental impacts. According to the results of most of the selected impact categories, the solar subsystem contributed the most environmental emissions during construction stage, followed by the two anaerobic reactors; therefore, the excessive pursuit of high solar energy proportion can correspondingly lead to even more serious environmental problems. The integrated energy supplying system significantly reduces non-renewable energy consumption, climate change impacts, acidification as well as eutrophication effects due to the replacement of alternatives such as lignite coal, and from fertilizer production. The present hybrid solar-biomass energy supplying system not only produces clean thermal energy but also reduces the disposal of organic wastes and produces valuable agricultural products.

Investigation on drying kinetics and techno-economics of solarbiomass hybrid drying system

Investigation on drying kinetics and techno-economics of solarbiomass hybrid drying system

Hybrid solar-biomass system for district heating

The energy used in the built-up environment represents at least 40% of the total energy consumed, out of which, at least 60% is required for heating, cooling and domestic hot water (DHW). Within the European Union, more than 6,000 communities (i.e. over 9%) use district heating systems, the majority of which use the conversion of fossil fuels as a source of energy. This aspect, which is corroborated by the directives of the EU legislation on the use of renewable energy sources and energy performance, imposes the development of new solutions through which the existing district heating systems may be adapted to use renewable energy sources. The solar-thermal systems that are used on a large (district) scale are becoming more and more efficient from the point of view of their feasibility; however, it is almost impossible to create systems that should satisfy the thermal energy demand throughout the four seasons of the year. The hybrid solar-biomass system is becoming the applicable solution for the majority of the communities that have from this potential, since it can secure independence from the point of view of the use of thermal energy. This paper presents the design stages for the implementation of the hybrid solar-biomass systems with a view to identifying the optimal solutions for systems to be integrated into an existing district heating system. A case study (Taberei District in Odorheiu Secuiesc City), which provides a detailed description of the feasible technical solutions, is presented.

Evaluation of plastic and steel bins for protection of stored maize against Insect Infestation in Ghana

Maize is a staple food in Ghana where there is ever increasing demand for its use to also support poultry and livestock production. However, post-harvest loss of maize is high in Ghana. This study evaluated the effectiveness of plastic and steel bins as bulk storage structures to reduce maize post-harvest loss in Ejura, Ghana during the period from February 2016 to January 2017. Maize pre-disinfested with a solar biomass hybrid dryer was stored in the following treatments: i. a white 7-ton plastic bin filled with untreated maize, ii. agreen 7-ton plastic bin filled with untreated maize, iii.a 6-ton Kikapu steel bin filled with untreated maize, iv. six 50-kg polypropylene (PP) bags filled with maize treated with Betallic Super (80 g pirimiphos-methyl and 15 g permethrin per liter as an emulsifiable concentrate (EC)), and v. six 50-kg PP bags filled with untreated maize ascontrol. Moisture content, insect pests, insect damaged kernels (IDK), grain weight loss, aflatoxin and fumonisin levels data were collected monthly. Sitophilus zeamais, Tribolium castaneum, Cathartus quadricollis, and Cryptolestes ferrugineus were the dominant insect species collected from maize samples. At the end of 12 months of storage, % IDK in the control was >17% while IDK values in the other treatments were <3%. Mean grain weight losses of <1% were recorded in the bin treatments. Mycotoxin levels in the control were above the allowable threshold of 15 ppb. Our data suggest that use of plastic and steel bins has potential to reduce post-harvest loss of maize during storage.

Performance assessment off a commercial scale solar biomass hybrid dryer for quality seed maize production: Presentation

Though several maize varieties have been developed and introduced over the years in Ghana, farmers still face challenges of access to quality seed maize. Among the major constraints is lack of proper drying systems to quarantee quality of seed produced. Peculiar to most parts of Africa, drying of maize in the open, on bare ground along shoulders of roads is still a common practice in Ghana. In this study, a 5-tonne capacity solar biomass hybrid dryer was developed for drying maize for seed and food/feed in Ghana. Effect of drying air temperature in the dryer on the physiological quality and germination of maize kernels was investigated. Maize grains were dried in the open sun simulating farmers practice and using the dryer at 4 varying levels (L1, L2, L3 and L4) with corresponding heights (0.6m, 1.2m, 1.8m and 2.4m) respectively. Harvested maize at 22.8% moisture content was dried at the varying levels until reaching overall mean moisture content of 12.8 ± 0.2% (wb). Results showed that, drying air temperatures in the dryer increased in accordance with height with lowest mean temperature of 44.4 ± 4.6°C recorded at L1 and mean maximum of 52.8 ± 5.4 °C at L4. The increase in drying temperature at L4 increased kernel stress crack index by an average of 14% and reduced germination by 33%. However, drying temperatures at L1-L3 and in the open sun had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the germination potential of maize grains. This satisfies the dryer’s potential to be used for drying maize grains for high quality seed production on commercial scale.

Exergoeconomic and environmental analysis of a novel configuration of solar-biomass hybrid power generation system

In recent years, with increasing the industrial centers and indulgence in consumption of fossil fuels, the troublesome greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and depletion of fossil reservoir has become more prominent. One of the solutions to overcome this problem is utilization of renewable energy resources to generate power and electricity. Hence, a hybrid cycle consisted of biomass/solar is proposed in this paper. The proposed cycle is primarily postulated upon power production via the biomass energy where solar and steam turbine sections are incorporated to increase power output and decrease the CO2 emission. First, the cycle undergoes through a comprehensive energy, exergy, exergoeconomic, and environmental analysis and the impact of produced power, production cost, and the amount of CO2 emission of each mentioned sections on the overall produced power, the total cost, and the entire CO2 emission of the hybrid cycle is discussed and evaluated. In the end, through a parametric assessment, the effect of important thermodynamic parameters on the overall cycle performance is studied. The results indicated that by adding the solar unit to biomass section, the power is increased by 30% and CO2 emission has decreased by 22%. The capital cost of biomass and steam turbine units compared to the entire cycle are nearly equal as much as 15%, whereas for solar unit the amount of these costs compared to entire cycle is obtained as 71%.

Energy, exergy, economic analysis and optimization of polygeneration hybrid solar-biomass system

The energy, exergy, economic analysis and optimization with the objective functions of energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, VAR cooling output, desalination output and total output of the polygeneration hybrid solar and biomass system are investigated. The optimization using the objective functions, constraints and the decision variables is carried out utilizing genetic algorithm in EES software for polygeneration hybrid solar and biomass system. In this paper, the optimized values of energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, VAR cooling output, desalination output and total output of the polygeneration system are achieved to 49.85%, 20.94%, 7278 kW, 4405 kW and 14,606 kW respectively. The payback period of polygeneration hybrid solar biomass system is 1.5 years at the electricity tariff rate of ₹7.45/kWh which is less than of solar thermal and hybrid solar biomass power plant.

Evaluation of potential of energetic development in isolated zones with wide biodiversity: NIZ Chocó-Colombia case study

The implementation of a hybrid biomass gasification-photovoltaic system for electricity generation in isolated regions was evaluated. Experiments were carried out to test the gasification of agricultural residual biomass in a downdraft fixed-bed gasifier coupled to an internal combustion engine and a photovoltaic system with this set-up, electricity was successfully generated by means of rice husk (RH) gasification, which produced a synthesis gas with a calorific value below 3–5 MJ/N m3. The gas was purified sufficiently to make it profitable in an engine through a simple cleaning system. The main contribution is given by the proposal of a hybrid system adapted to climatic conditions and renewable resources settled in the region; In order to have a portable and autonomous system. Where it can be concluded that a hybrid solar-biomass system is a versatile alternative to contribute to the generation and efficient use of electrical energy. The hybrid system provided a stable electricity supply of 24–27 kWh. Along with the analysis of residual biomass availability in the Chocó region, this indicates that the implementation of technological alternatives such as the ones tested in this research are able to sustainably fulfill the energy needs of isolated communities by making use of the resources coming from their own agricultural activities. Also, the conclusions show that the best hybrid system, from the technician-economic point of view for the energy.

Hybrid solar-biomass combined Brayton/organic Rankine-cycle plants integrated with thermal storage: Techno-economic feasibility in selected Mediterranean areas

This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis and techno-economic assessment of a novel hybrid solar-biomass power-generation system configuration composed of an externally fired gas-turbine (EFGT) fuelled by biomass (wood chips) and a bottoming organic Rankine cycle (ORC) plant. The main novelty is related to the heat recovery from the exhaust gases of the EFGT via thermal energy storage (TES), and integration of heat from a parabolic-trough collectors (PTCs) field with molten salts as a heat-transfer fluid (HTF). The presence of a TES between the topping and bottoming cycles facilitates the flexible operation of the system, allows the system to compensate for solar energy input fluctuations, and increases capacity factor and dispatchability. A TES with two molten salt tanks (one cold at 200 °C and one hot at 370 °C) is chosen. The selected bottoming ORC is a superheated recuperative cycle suitable for heat conversion in the operating temperature range of the TES. The whole system is modelled by means of a Python-based software code, and three locations in the Mediterranean area are assumed in order to perform energy-yield analyses: Marseille in France, Priolo Gargallo in Italy and Rabat in Morocco. In each case, the thermal storage that minimizes the levelized cost of energy (LCE) is selected on the basis of the estimated solar radiation and CSP size. The results of the thermodynamic simulations, capital and operational costs assessments and subsidies (feed-in tariffs for biomass and solar electricity available in the Italian framework), allow estimating the global energy conversion efficiency and the investment profitability in the three locations. Sensitivity analyses of the biomass costs, size of PTCs, feed-in tariff and share of cogenerated heat delivered to the load are also performed. The results show that the high investment costs of the CSP section in the proposed size range and hybridization configuration allow investment profitability only in the presence of a dedicated subsidy framework such as the one available in the Italian energy market. In particular, the LCE of the proposed system is around 140 Eur/MWh (with the option to discharge the cogenerated heat) and the IRR is around 15%, based on the Italian electricity subsidy tariffs. The recovery of otherwise discharged heat to match thermal energy demand can significantly increase the investment profitability and compensate the high investment costs of the proposed technology.

Fabrication and testing of hybrid solar-biomass dryer for drying fish

The fishery has been one of the leading sectors in Aceh Province. In 2016 the production of Aceh province catch fishery reaches 185 thousand tons. To increase the added value of the abundant fish products is by doing the post-harvest processing. This study includes the manufacture and testing of a solar energy drying unit equipped with biomass-fueled air heating. The dryer consists of a drying chamber of length 260 cm and width of 80 cm, with glass as a cover. A crossflow type heat exchanger for an air heater that utilizes biomass fuel also mounted to the dryer. There were 25 kg of fish used as raw material and dried utilizing specific devices using several methods. In the beginning, drying was conducted using solar energy, from 09:00 to 16:00, and continued with hot-air produced from biomass combustion from 16:00 to 06:00 and maintained at 40–50 °C. The test revealed that after reaching 22–23 h of the drying process, the overall weight of the fish did not change much, and the final weight is 12.5 kg. The cost required for fabrication of a hybrid dryer is Rp. 25.250.000, - ($ 1870) with a production capacity of 100 kg of fish.

Efficient Biomass Fuel Cell Powered by Sugar with Photo‐ and Thermal‐Catalysis by Solar Irradiation

The utilization of biomass sugars has received great interesting recently. Herein, we present a highly efficient hybrid solar biomass fuel cell that utilizes thermal- and photocatalysis of solar irradiation and converts biomass sugars into electricity with high power output. The fuel cell uses polyoxometalates (POMs) as photocatalyst to decompose sugars and capture their electrons. The reduced POMs have strong visible and near-infrared light adsorption, which can significantly increase the temperature of the reaction system and largely promotes the thermal oxidation of sugars by the POM. In addition, the reduced POM functions as charge carrier that can release electrons at the anode in the fuel cell to generate electricity. The electron-transfer rates from glucose to POM under thermal and light-irradiation conditions were investigated in detail. The power outputs of this solar biomass fuel cell are investigated by using different types of sugars as fuels, with the highest power density reaching 45 mW cm-2 .