Objective
The project is focused on the development of technically and commercially viable small (5 to 250 kWe) combined heat and power (CHP) plants involving a gas turbine fired directly by a pressurised biomass-fuelled gasifier followed by a cyclone combustor. Direct-fired systems avoid the complexity and cost of sophisticated heat exchangers and offer a strong opportunity for commercial exploitation. The project takes state-of-the-art combustor technology and advances it with the aid of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling so that the gas stream entering the turbine contains less than 1 ppm alkali and 10 ppm particulates of a maximum size of 5 microns. Turbine inlet and exhaust temperatures will be 850 and 600 C respectively; gasifier/combustor pressure 3 bar(a) with gas leakage <2%. NOX is targeted at <90 vpm (15% oxygen).
The gas turbine and its control and instrumentation systems have been commissioned and are ready to be integrated into a facility at Risø when the gasifier/combustor has achieved atmospheric operation. The facility is planned to operate for 200 hours, providing data on performance, deposition, erosion and corrosion, together with validation of flow and control models. The overall project is aimed at providing the essential data required to design a pre-production prototype of 250 kWe, within a capital cost for production units of 1000 ECU/kWe and a generated electricity cost of 0.06 ECU/kWh. This will be with a cycle efficiency of 23%(e) and 75% fuel utilisation in a CHP system. The prototype design will form the basis for a follow-on project, which will incorporate fuel feed, high performance pressurised gasification and combustion, with a low cost gas turbine based on turbocharger technology.
The project has a major potential to create new opportunities and markets for European industry and new jobs in agriculture, for markets in both Europe and the third world. It promises a significant development in the use of sustainable energy.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The project is focused on the development of technically and commercially viable small (5 to 250 kWe) combined heat and power (CHP) plants involving a gas turbine fired directly by a pressurised biomass-fuelled gasifier followed by a cyclone combustor. Direct-fired systems avoid the complexity and cost of sophisticated heat exchangers and offer a strong opportunity for commercial exploitation. The project takes state-of-the-art combustor technology and advances it with the aid of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling so that the gas stream entering the turbine contains less than 1 ppm alkali and 10 ppm particulates of a maximum size of 5 microns. Turbine inlet and exhaust temperatures will be 850 and 600 C respectively; gasifier/combustor pressure 3 bar(a) with gas leakage <2%. NOX is targetted at <90 vpm (15% oxygen).
TECHNICAL APPROACH
An experimental facility with a pressurised gasifier and cyclone combustor firing a gas turbine powered generator of about 40 kWe will be developed. This facility will be used to research and establish the deposition, erosion, corrosion and performance parameters for a number of biomass fuels, define allowable operating temperatures (and hence efficiencies) and establish through modelling and experimental measurement, control and protection arrangements for a pre-production prototype unit. Modelling of the combustor and turbine gas and particle flows will be an integral part of the project; the development of validated models will be of considerable assistance in the interpretation of the experimental results and in the design of the pre-production prototype. Four wood fuels, with their relatively low ash and alkali contents will be utilised initially and, depending on the success of the results with these fuels, experimental work with less benign fuels will be included.
EXPECTED ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPLOITATION
The facility is planned to operate for 200 hours, providing data on performance, deposition erosion and corrosion, together with validation of flow and control models. The overall project is aimed at providing the essential data required to design a pre-production prototype of 250 kWe, within a capital cost for production units of 1000 ECU/kWe and a generated electricity cost of 0.06 ECU/kWh. This will be with a cycle efficiency of 23%(e) and 75% fuel utilisation in a CHP system. The prototype design will form the basis for a follow-on project, which will incorporate fuel feed, high performance pressurised gasification and combustion, with a low cost gas turbine based on turbocharger technology. Gas turbines have a number of intrinsic advantages over diesels, with lower maintenance costs, compactness, less fuel sensitivity and much higher quality exhaust heat (important for CHP and overall cycle efficiency). An electricity utility will assist with the development of the exploitation plan.
The project has a major potential to create new opportunities and markets for European industry and new jobs in agriculture, for markets in both Europe and the third world. It promises a significant development in the use of sustainable energy.
JOR3-CT97-0144
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electrical engineering power engineering electric power generation combined heat and power
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences physical sciences classical mechanics fluid mechanics fluid dynamics computational fluid dynamics
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries forestry
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Coordinator
BS21 7TG Clevedon
United Kingdom
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