Achievement represents the first sucesful testing of liquefied wood in commercial microturbine engine. Tested were 25% and 50% blends with ethanol in a microturbine with simple Brayton cycle and pressure-swirl atomization. Comparison of the emissions from pure ethanol reveal higher concentrations of CO and THC, however this was expected and values are in managable range. This step represents the key achievement for commercialization of the fuel as feasibility of operation with commercial microturbine is confirmed by developing a demonstrator, operating in relevant environment.
F.17 Transfer of existing technologies, know-how, methods and procedures into practice
COBISS.SI-ID: 15341851Work presents synthesis and characterization of liquefied wood which is based on increased content of biomass, whereas negative influence on viscosity is offset by blending with 25% and 50% ethanol. Biomass content is not significantly reduced in the case of 25% blending, however physical and chemical properties of the fuel are significantly improved. This enables better filtration and by this longer service life of the developed fuel system for microturbine and microturbine hot path components. The latter is a consequence of removed contaminants from the fuel. An important advantage of synthesized formulation is possibility to use a simple cycle microturbe and pressure-swirl atomization in microturbine due to reduced viscosity. This allows the purchase price of microturbine to be 10% of that of advanced recuperated microturbine, which enables significantly lower investment capacity of end users.
F.10 Improvements to an existing technological process or technology
COBISS.SI-ID: 15341339In this study, the feasibility of energy recovery from waste liquor from NCC in a gas turbine was confirmed by analysing thermodynamic parameters and gaseous (CO, HC, NOx) as well as particulate emissions, where particulates are analysed in the form of soot (mostly carbonaceous material) and the particulate matter (PM). Most of emission concentrations were generally above those of diesel fuel except for NOx and soot. With appropriate strategies also the values of CO, HC and PM could be further reduced. The highest discrepancy between diesel and waste liquor was identified in soot and particulate matter emission, suggesting a strong influence of oxygenates and possibly ash in the waste liquor on particulate formation. This deficiency could be addressed through different waste liqor conditioning procedures (i.e. filtering). These innovative initial analyses proved that proposed process of NCC isolation has the potential to be zero-waste if the feasibility of energy recovery from waste liquor will be confirmed also on the level of durability studies.
F.05 Ability to launch new technological development cycle
COBISS.SI-ID: 15340571Analysis presentes to what extent the use of liquefied wood is economicaly viable in CHP unit with microturbine, considering the current market situation in Slovenia and EU. Results reveal that if support for cogeneration is obtained, the return on investment is 3 years, without the support, the return on investment is 10 years.
F.01 Acquisition of new practical knowledge, information and skills
COBISS.SI-ID: 13905179The goal of the study was to estimate the feasibility of a microturbine engine (MGT) to be operated with innovative energy carriers with specific focus on liquefied lignocellulosic biomass. The data is first used to obtain a reference for operating conditions on an experimental microturbine engine stationed in University of Ljubljana. Secondly, the possibility to perform further experiments with liquefied wood on a MGT, stationed in VUB is evaluated and discussed based on construction, control system design and key operating parameters of MGT. The results suggest that fuel system in University of Ljubljana has sufficient capacity and operational stability to feed the T100 turbine. Required adaptations are linked first to adaptation of T100 on liquid fuels, with specific solutions required for high carbon residue in high viscosity fuels. The preliminary solution is suggested with incorporation of new combustion chamber, developed at University of Ljubljana. The control system of T100 will most likely require pilot flame, lit by natural gas to keep the closed-loop fuel flow control functional. In terms of energy share, the pilot fuel would account up to 10% of total energy delivery.
F.05 Ability to launch new technological development cycle
COBISS.SI-ID: 14558235