Exergoeconomic Analysis of an Integrated Steam Biomass Gasification System with a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell for Power and Freshwater Generations

In recent years, the integration of biomass gasification with solid oxide fuel cells offers an emerging alternative for conventional power generation systems. Also, due to the ever-increasing human need for drinking water and the limitation of available drinking water resources, the desalination of the oceans saltwater is one of the promising solutions for the water scarcity problem. Therefore, in the present study, a novel integrated system containing steam biomass gasification, solid oxide fuel cell and multi-effect desalination system is introduced. Modeling and exergoeconomic analysis of the system is performed in EES software. A parametric study is conducted to examine the effects of key operating parameters on the net output power, exergy efficiency and unit product cost of the integrated system. The results indicate that the exergy efficiency and unit product cost of the integrated system are obtained 46.04% and 4.57$/GJ respectively.