Thermodynamics analysis of a novel steam/air biomass gasification combined cooling, heating and power system with solar energy

Abstract In order to mitigate inherent intermittency of solar energy and satisfy the energy demands, a novel steam/air biomass gasification combined cooling, heating and power system with solar energy is proposed in this work. In the system concentrated solar energy collected with dish optical configuration is used to generate high temperature steam, which acts as a gasification agent to drive the biomass gasification. When solar radiation intensity is lower than the design point (the maximum in whole year), the hybrid steam/air biomass gasification model is conducted for continuous syngas production. Syngas based chemical energy is released for trigeneration in a distributed system. The reaction kinetics models of biomass gasification using solar energy are developed and the thermodynamics performances of the system are numerical investigated. Under the designate conditions, the primary energy efficiency reaches 51.34%. Based on the local weather data, the off-design performances of the system and the annual energy-saving potential are evaluated. Compared with the reference system, that combines a conventional air biomass gasification trigeneration system and a solar dish/Stirling engine system, the new system has remarkable advantage in thermal performances. An economic analysis is conducted to evaluate the technical feasibility of the proposed system. This research provides a promising method for the efficient utilization of biomass and solar energy.