Evaluation of a biomass based district heating system integrated with a Stirling engine

District heating (DH) systems in the European Union in common with other energy generation systems are subject to various regulatory and political pressures to be energy efficient and, to the extent possible, based on renewable energy sources (RES) out of environmental concerns. This paper proposes an innovative cogeneration configuration for a DH network, consisting of a biomass gasification unit, heat recovery system, high temperature purification unit and a Stirling engine for electricity generation. The system produces heat from biomass and generates the electricity that is needed for the purposes of auxiliary equipment and to cover pressure losses in the system. As such, the network may be 100% based on renewable energy source. This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of the proposed solution. A detailed mathematical model of the system was built to carry out the analyses and calculate basic thermodynamic evaluation indices.

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Opracowanie rekordu w ramach umowy 509/P-DUN/2018 ze środków MNiSW przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (2018).