Chair of Power Plant Technology
All power stations have in common the fact that energy has to be converted by mechanical, thermal, chemical or electrical transformation into an electric power. In the field of the thermal energy engineering up-to-date combustion and gasification technologies are developed. These are connected to the development of the Zero emission power station. Goals of the development of these new technologies are small power production costs (cent/kWh), small emissions, high availability and long operating time of the power station.
Research and development activities of the chair lie within the field of modern power stations and cover the following areas:
- Mathematical modelling of power stations and power station components, stationary and transient behaviour, thermo-technical design and optimization of energy-technical processes, current simulations
- Concept studies and preliminary planning for power stations, combined heat and power stations and heating stations
- Combustion research and analyses of industrial firings problems
- Energetic use of renewable resources, development of the bio mix pellets
- Efficiency-increasing tasks for conventional power plants and modern methods of the condition-dependent maintenance
These topics are taught in several diploma, Bachelor and Master courses (mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, process engineering). The training of the students is supplemented by the tests at the pilot plants. During the practical training of the students the devices in the chemical laboratory are used for analysis of fuels, ashes and water.
The research in the area of the power plant technology has been focusing for the last years on
- the Oxyfuel process. A possibility to reduce the CO2-emissions of a power plant is the compression and storage of the flue gas to prevent it from emitting into the atmosphere. The Oxyfuel process is needed for a sufficient CO2-concentration. Lignite is burned in an atmosphere of oxygen instead of air and re-circulated flue gas.
- the pressurized drying. The parameters for a heat transfer are experimentally determined in a test facility for drying with a real steam fluidized bed and lignite particle. The goal is the development of a benchmark method for lignite drying processes. These scientific-technical results are the basis for the decision about the construction of a reference dryer.
- DyVeMo – modelling of dynamics and availability. The modelling of the power station blocks operational behaviour is appropriate for an effective application of large power station blocks as well as for a flexible operation mode according to the load change requirements. The largest general validity and application range have thereby dynamic models of the power plants. In addition, the availability of the power station blocks has a crucial influence on their profitability, and this is not only important during the production, but in the planning stage as well.
- the cycloid combustion chamber. The cycloid firing belongs to the most progressive firing techniques for the decentralized power supply. Extensive experimental tests took place at a 500-kW-test facility showing that the principle of the cycloid firing with the spin-afflicted rotation flow is suitable for the combustion of Lusatian dry lignite. The co-combustion of mechanically drained sewage sludge and wood chips was successfully tested as well.
- Laboratory combustion chamber ALVA20. The equipment is mainly used for the study of burning and combustion characteristics. The range of application of this equipment is extremely diverse. It is possible to conduct various process studies as well as the reaction kinetic studies of a bigger fuel amount under various test conditions.
- The development of bio mixed pellets. Further processing of agricultural biomass in the field of energy composes the focus point in the development of mixed pellets. That comprises drying, storage, transportation and fuel treatment (e.g. production of the synthetic diesel). The aim of the research is the improvement of the energy utilization efficiency in the field of energy production through biomass.
All in all, the chair has intensive contacts with multitude of partners from Industry and energy supplying companies. It realised an average annual third-party fund of ca. 1,9 million EUR during the last 3 years.
The chair is supplied with an excellent technical equipment (Fig. 2). In the laboratory are devices for the analysis of fuels and ashes (composition, calorific value, particle sizes, coal ash fusibility, combustion behaviour). In the pilot plant station are the plants for the circulating pressurised fluidised-bed combustion (150 KW, max. 16 bar), pressurised steam fluidized-bed drying process (500 kg/h raw lignite, max. 6.5 bar) and cycloid combustion chamber (20 kW).
