Generating energy from hydrogen-enriched biogas at low-power mini-thermal power plants

The paper presents the results of a study of the possibility of using biogas enriched with hydrogen at a steam-turbine mini-thermal power plant with a capacity of 1 MW, in which the process of heat energy accumulation was organized. Two-stage biological conversion of organic waste was considered in the technological scheme as the basis for obtaining biohydrogen and biogas. Five compositions of gaseous fuels were analyzed in this paper. The biohydrogen content was varied in increments of 15% to 45%. When generating steam, a boiler with a capacity of 25 tons /hour was used; its calculation was key in the power generation unit. For fast recycling of waste with minimal hydraulic retention time, the most effective way is to use gas with a hydrogen content of up to 15%. At the same time, the daily processing of waste will be from 349,87 to 362,21 tons, and the excess of technical hydrogen of 99,99% purity can be realized in cylinders. The amount of organic fertilizers produced at the mini-TPP will be at least 241 tons /day. The efficiency of the steam boiler will be 95%. Resulting steam is sent to a 1 MW steam turbine to generate electricity. Although the smallest amount of flue gases is generated by burning fuel with a hydrogen content of 45% in a steam boiler, this is technologically impossible to implement in the scheme under consideration, since there is a shortage H₂. It should be noted that the fuel consumption in a steam boiler increases as the proportion of hydrogen increases. Based on a comprehensive analysis, it can be argued that there are not enough standard methods for designing a steam-turbine mini-thermal power plant on hydrogen, and additional research is necessary.

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