Flexible generation of electricity, heat and cooling
Joule-Flex
MGT systems test rig at the DLR Institute of Combustion Technology
At its core, the test rig consists of a microturbine, a high-temperature air preheater and various mixing lines. It is used to emulate the coupling of a microturbine with various high-temperature processes.
The more the energy system is fed from renewable sources, the more important it is to have a flexible supply of electricity and heat. In the Joule-Flex project, the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics and the Institute of Combustion Technology are jointly researching systems based on the Joule and Brayton processes for the flexible generation of electricity, heat and cooling.
The forthcoming transition to renewable heat requires efficient and operationally flexible solutions for combined heat and power technologies and alternative fuels in centralised and decentralised applications. Combined heat and power systems offer great potential across all sectors. Two favoured technologies of different performance classes are based on
on micro gas turbines with a systemically integrated and electrically heated solid fuel storage, and
large Carnot batteries based on the Brayton process.
With its decentralised approach and fuel flexibility, the micro gas turbine with integrated electrically heated solid fuel storage opens up significant market potential for commercial cogeneration and residential applications.
Large Carnot batteries, which are based on the Brayton process, offer greater flexibility and efficiency for industrial applications and grid stability due to their typical power station size.
The successful development of the two technologies towards experimental testing and investigation of system dynamics is therefore at the heart of the Jouleflex project. For the storage-assisted micro gas turbine, this includes the development of a load-flexible combustion chamber, an inductive high-temperature electric heater for the solid fuel storage system, and holistic experimental testing via virtual coupling of the subsystems.
Central research and development tasks for us here are:
Development of a combustion chamber with variable orifice geometry (integrated high-temperature valve mechanism for load-independent dynamic adjustment of the fuel-air ratio in the combustion chamber for low pollutant emissions over a wide operating range) to significantly reduce exhaust emissions over the entire load range of a microturbine and the pre-heating range of the high-temperature heat storage device.
Process simulations to analyse the most promising ways of integrating high-temperature storage into microturbines
Construction and operation of coordinated micro gas turbine and inductively heated high-temperature storage test benches to demonstrate virtually coupled operation
