Session: 19-05: Design, control, and testing.

Submission Number: 177818

Adaptable Control System for a 100 kW Micro Gas Turbine 

Gas turbines will still play an important role in the future energy system as they will be required to stabilize the grid by compensating for the volatile energy output of renewable sources. At the same time the variety of fuels, especially from renewable sources is increasing. The development of electronic components is also continuing fast. New electronic components can contribute to increased performance and improved service or simplify maintenance. Old and current turbine control systems are often rigid and cannot be expanded. Beside the hardware, new control algorithms have to be developed to react on the increasing demand on load and fuel flexibility on the one side and the need for integration with other technologies on the other side.  A flexible, expandable as well as adaptable turbine control system is essential to ensure a fast adaption to future requirements as well as market scenarios.

At the DLR Institute of Combustion Technology a Turbec T100 micro gas turbine (MGT) series 3 from 2006 was modified and upgraded with a new control system. It was equipped with a commercially available PLC from Beckhoff to ensure the latest technical standard. The control algorithms were reviewed and improved. In addition, new control strategies were developed and integrated. This was done to increase the flexibility and to ensure that the machine is able to meet future demands. The Turbec T100 in its version from 2006 was not equipped with a safety control. Therefore, the control system was extended with a separate safety system to comply with the European machinery directive.

In this study the modification of the Turbec T100 control system is introduced. With the new hardware, it is possible to respond to process events within milliseconds. For the experimental validation of the control system upgrades, the MGT was equipped with a detailed instrumentation including thermocouples, pressure transducers, mass flow meters and an exhaust gas analyzer. A new control algorithm was developed for the startup to increase robustness against external influences. The influences on the maneuver are shown and the functionality is proven. To account for the increasing demand on fuel flexible systems the control strategy for the combustor was modified. Hereby, one aspect was the integration of new combustion systems which was simplified by this method. The other aspect is the tuning of the combustion process itself to improve emission level. The algorithm is proved at different examples.

Presenting Author: Martina Hohloch German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Presenting Author Biography: Dr., Hohloch, Martina, research engineer in department of micro gas turbines, is graduated in process engineering, holds a PHD and has been working at DLR for 19 years.

Authors:

Martina Hohloch German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Andreas Mader German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Eberhard Koerner German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Peter Kutne German Aerospace Center (DLR)