Waste to Energy System Based on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: Department Store Case

This study presents a new sustainable poly-generation system (power, heat, cool and freshwater) based on a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system integrated with an absorption chiller and freshwater desalination system. The idea is to gasify the municipal waste of department stores in Denmark and thereby producing syngas, which serves as fuel for the poly-generation system. The proposed system recovers the waste heat to generate cooling and freshwater. Such advanced waste to energy systems when improved is self-sustainable, less disposal to sanitary landfills, saving large municipal fields for other human activity and considerable less environmental impact. The study shows that for a plant with about 145 kW net power, the energy efficiency may be more than 92% including electricity, cooling and freshwater production. For the case studied here, the cooling and freshwater productions will be about 145 kW and 180 liter/hour, respectively when the waste heat is equally divided between absorption chiller and freshwater desalination.