This unit is a MGT (micro gas turbine) that represents the
initial stage of the conversion of a commercial unit to
bioliquid feeding. The Capstone C30 Liquid Fuel (LF) is
commercially available since several years in the CHP market
as an alternative to internal combustion engines. We adapted
the unit to vegetable and used cooking oil feeding, testing
up to 40 h continuously operation. Minor adaptations to the
fuel line were designed and installed. The work is the result
of the efforts of LIFE-VOICE
(Vegetable Oil Initiative for a
Cleaner Environment) project ***, which was supported by the
European Commission-DG Environment trough the LIFE-Env.
program. Support was also given by CAPSTONE (the producer)
and IBT (the Italian seller).
The main features are:
The micro gas turbine test (MGT) rig consists in a small power generation unit for testing the combustion performance a broad range of fossil and bio-fuels, including viscous bioliquids. The MGT section is based on an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) micro gas turbine produced by AiResearch-Garrett Corporation, model GTP 30-67, adapted to power a military ground power unit (GPU), and further reassembled and instrumented in its dedicated test rig. Fuel atomization is performed through a pressure swirl single injector in a reverse flow silo-type combustion chamber. The combustor was designed in three different model by RE-CORD depending on the fuel supply. The turbine shaft rotates at a fixed rotational speed of approximately 53,000 rpm, and drives an electrical generator delivering AC at 25 kVA, 0.8 pF, 400 Hz, 120/208 Volt. The rig comprises an engine (MGT) sub-assembly, a multi-fuel injection line, a control panel, and the AC generator. Parts are mounted on a mobile aluminum frame of Robounits®.
The test rig can burn efficiently pyrolysis oil, liquefied wood and vegetable oils due to its flexible operability. We could offer biofuels, bioliquids and biocrude combustion performance and emissions tests.
