Scope and Objectives

We aim to develop micro gas turbine (MGT) units operating on open Brayton cycle for standalone distributed small-scale electrical power generation of 100kW. Besides the decentralized power generation, the proposed unit finds many applications for standby power generation and CHP systems. The followings are the broad objectives of the proposed work: (i) development and performance analysis of 100 kW MGT unit with and without recuperator with 25-35% electric efficiency, (ii) development of exhaust heat recovery system for CHP applications with an aim to achieve 70-75 % thermal efficiency for the combined heat and power applications.

Deliverables

Different versions of the MGTs are planned, starting from the gas turbines operated on an open cycle Brayton cycle with or without recuperator. Working prototypes of MGT system producing rated power of 100 kW with or without recuperator will be designed, developed and tested. Endurance test will be conducted to assess performance of MGTs. We aim to achieve an electrical efficiency of 25-35% and 70-75% thermal efficiency for CHP applications for these systems. Initially, MGT with a compression ratio of about 4.0 and TIT of 800 degree C will be designed and developed with all radial arrangement, centrifugal compressor and radial turbine. The MGT units will have a reverse flow combustion chamber. The full design calculations, the part and assembly drawings for different MGTs will be the major deliverables at different stages. The fabrication protocol along with the data for performance test results with respect to emission, endurance, heat-to-mechanical and heat-to-electrical efficiencies will also be delivered at the end of each stage. Moreover, we expect to generate few patents and several publications from the proposed project.

Scientific Output

Results and outcome till date

Completed the cycle design of the MGT and investigated the effect of individual component's efficiency on overall cycle efficiency. Preliminary design of major components (compressor, combustor, turbine, and recuperator) has been performed. Detailed design of major components is currently underway. This is essential to optimize each component so that we can achieve the desired cycle efficiency. Expected completion by Dec 2018. Thereafter, the fabrication of the individual components will start early in 2019.

Societal benefit and impact anticipated

MGTs offer several advantages, e.g., low emissions, multi-fuel capability and wide-fuel quality tolerance, low weight and compact size, easy installation, minimal disruption, low maintenance, low noise, suitability for combined heat and power applications, simple design with no vibration, which is ideal for urban applications as an indoor/outdoor/rooftop installation with remote monitoring and control. The deregulation of the electricity supply market will lead to potential introduction of distributed generation, which consists of local generation of electric, thermal and mechanical energy. Besides this, MGTs are suitable for cogeneration and combined heat and power (CHP) applications. Besides small-scale distributed power generation systems, MGT can be used for stand-by power, power quality and reliability, peak shaving, and cogeneration applications. At present, the MGTs are very rarely used in India. Considering the increasingly stringent emission norms, MGT units have a tremendous capability of replacing the conventional power generation devices running on petrol and diesel reciprocating engines because of low emission (NOx and other pollutants). MGTs can operate on a wide variety of fuels (natural gas, synthetic gas from coal, biomass and MSW). The project is in-line with recent initiatives of Government of India on Smart City, Make in India, Skill India.

Next steps

1. Finalizing the design and release of drawings of the major components (Jan, 2019)
2. Procurement of heat exchanger, generator, lubrication systems, data acquisition and control systems (Apr, 2019)
3. Setting up of the micro gas turbine test rig (Oct, 2019) 4. Experiments (Dec, 2019)

Publications and reports

S. P. Diwanji, A. Surti, S. De, Development of 1D Turbomachinery Meanline Solver with Physics-based Detailed Loss Models, Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power (FMFP) Conference, Mumbai, December 2018 T. A. Kashif, Development of network-based preliminary methodology for a micro gas turbine combustor, SURGE Internship Report, IIT Kanpur (internal publication), 2018 S. P. Diwanji, Development of 1D Meanline Solver for Axial-Flow Turbines, with Physics-based detailed Loss Models, SURGE Internship Report, IIT Kanpur (internal publication), 2018

Patents

Scholars and Project Staff

V. Ravi (Senior Project Engineer) Apr 2017-Jan 2018 Ankit Surti (Senior Project Engineer) Feb 2018-Nov 2018 Saikat Sarma (PhD Research Scholar) Aug 2017 onwards Noorul Huda (PhD Research Scholar) Oct 2018 onwards Sujal Bhavsar (Junior Research Fellow) Jul 2018 onwards Dharmendra Chaubey (M.Tech. Student) Jan 2018-Dec 2018 (expected) Manish Trivedi (M.Tech. Student) May 2018-May 2019 (expected) Srinivas Diwanji (Summer Intern) May 2018-Jul 2018 Touqeer Anwar (Summer Intern) May 2018-Jul 2018

Challenges faced

1. Please release the remaining budget of second year. 2. Requesting to transfer the unspent Manpower head to Other Research Ependiture (ORE) head, since the development of micro gas turbines are cost-intensive. The fabricated components could sometime undergo failure. Also, increasing value of foreign currency (USD depreciated from 62 to 73 Rs.) impacted the overall cost of the project. Hence, we would request you to kindly consider our request to allow flexibility to use unspent Manpower head towards Other Research Expenditure (ORE) head. 3. Delay in getting required lab-space caused some delay, which we are trying to make-up. 4. Non-availability of trained manpower to execute such challenging project