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Advanced Turbines and Microturbines
Combustion turbines are a class of electricity generation devices that produce high-temperature, high-pressure gas to induce shaft rotation by impingement of the gas on a series of specially designed blades. Many turbines also use a heat exchanger called a recuperator to impart turbine exhaust heat into the combustor's air/fuel mixture. Simple cycle efficiencies (i.e., without external use of exhaust heat) range from 21 to 40 percent. Turbines produce high quality heat that can be used to generate steam for combined cycle or combined heat and power applications, significantly enhancing efficiency. Maintenance costs per unit of power output for combustion turbines are among the lowest of all power generating technologies.
Microturbines are small combustion turbines with outputs of 25 kW to 1,000 kW. Microturbines evolved from automotive and truck turbochargers, auxiliary power units for airplanes, and small jet engines used on pilotless military aircraft. By using recuperators, existing microturbine systems are capable of efficiencies in the 25-30 percent range. Microturbine systems are currently undergoing testing in commercial sector applications.
Advanced Turbines and Microturbine Links
Clean Power Technologies. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Clean Power Technologies web site provides an overview of industrial turbines, microturbines, reciprocating engines, and fuel cells.