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Novel Micro-CHP system utilizing a biogas turbine

CHP is a promising technology for integration with intermittent renewables such as wind turbines and photovoltaics. Currently, the market is lacking cost-effective solutions at building scale level. The not only investment cost is very high, and product life is limited, but smaller micro CHP products suffer from very high maintenance cost (relative to electricity production for systems < 20 kWe).

The bio-gas fueled EnerTwin represents a micro-CHP plant, performing significantly better on varying biogas mixtures and qualities than other micro CHP systems, delivering 3.2kW electrical and 15.6kW of thermal power for heating and hot water production.

An optimized and flexible version of this technology is being developed in RE-COGNITION project, aiming at the cost reduction and advanced remote monitoring and proactive/direct control optimization.

Specifically, to be able to work on biogas, a new combustor is being developed that can deal with a wide range of low-caloric gases. The main challenge is the ability to have stable combustion during cold start, hot restart, full load and partial load and at the same time to meet European emission requirements for NOx and CO for a wide range of biogas.

RE-COGNITION Advances

The introduced technological advances will transform the natural-gas based micro-CHP plant, into a RE-based (biogas) energy resource, which would be remote control-ready from the ACEME.

The integrated technology of the developed solution will reduce total cost of ownership to a level below any similar product available to the market today.

Advantages of Micro Gas Turbine:

  • Lower investment costs, longer life and low maintenance. With only one rotating part, maintenance cost can be as low as only 20% of competing technologies.
  • High quality. The mGT is constructed using turbocharger components, which are widely used in the automotive sector.
  • The highest power density of all energy conversion technologies.
  • Lightweight and small micro-CHP systems, which is essential for competitiveness and low-cost mass production.
  • Fuel flexibility: they can operate on a broad range of gaseous and liquid fuels.

 

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