Modeling of a Cogeneration System with a Micro Gas Turbine Operating at Partial Load Conditions

Abstract

The integration of absorption chillers in micro-cogeneration systems based on micro-gas turbines can be useful as an appropriate strategy to increase the total system energy efficiency. Since it is an area intensive in technology, it is necessary to develop and use models of simulation, which can predict the behavior of the whole system and of each component individually, at different operating conditions. This work is part of a research project in high efficiency cogeneration systems, whose purpose at this stage is to model a micro-cogeneration system, which is composed of a micro gas turbine, Capstone C30, a compact cross flow finned tube heat exchanger and an absorption chiller. The entire model is composed of specifically interconnected models, developed and validated for each component. The simulation of the microturbine used a thermodynamic analytic model, which contains a procedure used to obtain the micro turbine characteristic performance curves, which is closed with the thermodynamic Brayton cycle model. In the cogeneration system discussed in this paper, the compact heat exchanger was used to heat thermal oil, which drives an absorption chiller. It was designed, characterized and installed in a cogeneration system installed at the Centre d'Innovació Tecnològica en Revalorització Energètica i Refrigeració, Universtat Rovira i Virgili. Its design led to the heat exchanger model, which was coupled with the micro turbine model. Presented in this work is a comparison between the data from the model and the experiments, demonstrating good agreement between both results.

Modern Small and Microcogeneration Systems—A Review

“…In recent years, gas microturbines have gained a reputation as a refined technology and are boldly entering a variety of municipal and industrial facilities where reliable, independent electricity and/or heat generation at competitive prices is required. The leaders of this technology are mainly British [115,116], Italian [117] and American [118][119][120] companies. Currently, their offer includes devices with a power of 50-several hundred kW, and in the future, it is planned to gradually expand this range.…”

Recent Advances in the Analysis of Sustainable Energy Systems

“…Several other papers were published in this area in the previous SDEWES special issues, dealing with: trigeneration systems including fuel cells and supplied by municipal waste [74], building integrated trigeneration systems [75], cogeneration for wood industry in Serbia [76], simulation of a cogenerative micro-gas turbine operating at partial load conditions [77], cogeneration systems supplied by waste forest biomass [78], interaction between cogeneration systems and electrical vehicles [77,79], integration of solar energy in district heating systems [80], incentivizing mechanisms for trigeneration plants in Italy [81].…”

A Model Modification for a Microturbine Set with Partial Admission Stages

“…The literature describes the applications of microturbines. Sample items [2,3] can be pointed out in the case of gas turbine plants, while articles [4,5] can be indicated in the case of vapour turbine plants. For electric power generation from low-temperature heat sources, such as geothermal [6,7], ocean [8], or waste heat recovery systems [9], vapour microturbines can be used in conjunction with installations that employ the organic rankine cycle (ORC) [10] or organic flash cycle (OFC) [11].…”