Application areas

There is a huge variety of application areas where micro turbines have specific advantages compared to other conversion technologies. Micro turbines are known for its long life, low maintenance requirements and high reliability. Thanks to their typical other characteristics (compact, low weight, fuel flexibility, low emissions etc), many application areas allow feasible solutions in different industries. Examples are remote power generation (oil & gas, pipelines, oil rigs, mobile telecom), range extenders (automotive), gensets (remote power, backup power, transport), energy conversion etc.

MTT micro turbines

The MTT micro turbine design is based on low-cost high-performance micro turbo machinery technology suitable for efficient micro turbine cycles in the 4kW electrical power output range. With its proprietary high temperature recuperator, a large portion of the exhaust heat is recovered and electrical efficiency levels beyond 20% can be realised.

During development projects, large attention is given to cost price, reliability and low maintenance. These aspects, combined with their long life, give micro turbines the most competitive TCO (total cost of ownership) of all small-scale CHP solutions. The overall efficiency is substantially higher than condensing (HR) boilers. Payback time will depend on users’ profile; it will normally be between 3 and 6 years. Besides, substantial CO2 emission reduction can be realised.

Clean fuels

While natural gas was the initial fuel of choice when MTT started its development, meanwhile other fuels are also used. During its development, MTT also included projects focused on the applicability of clean fuels such as biomethane, (purified) biogas and mixtures natural gas - hydrogen. MTT's turbine can run on other fuels like LPG (propane / butane), bio-LPG, CNG or LNG.

Technology areas and subsystems

Micro turbine development is known to be a multi-disciplinary technology field, where a change on one specific aspect can have a direct effect on another. Over the years, MTT developed substantial know-how on the specifics of such multi-disciplinary developments and has gathered relevant know-how on the various fields that are important for micro turbine development. Some examples are performance & performance optimization, turbo machinery component design, clean combustion concepts, rotor dynamics, micro turbine control and system integration. Furthermore, MTT has developed its own proprietary high temperature recuperator technology, which is unique as it can be scaled on both performance and its power side. MTT’s recuperator can be built without specific tooling.

In addition, MTT developed know-how on mechanical design, power electronics, simulation, bearing technology and -systems as well as reliability -, life- and heat management. As a high-tech company, MTT is well embedded in an infrastructure of universities, research institutes and high-tech industrial partners. Several scientific publications have been published by MTT’s technical staff, which are available on request.

Future developments

Future designs will include micro turbines with improved component efficiencies of compressor, turbine and recuperator and also higher cycle pressure ratio, resulting in substantially higher electric efficiency levels. MTT also develops specific applications and micro turbines with a higher power output. MTT’s proprietary micro turbine technology has significant advantages for micro turbines of up to 200 kW shaft power in terms of efficiency, reliability and simplicity.

Please contact us if you would like to know more about MTT's activities and its technology.

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