A micro gas turbines for UK domestic combined heat and power

Various micro-radial compressor configurations were investigated using one-dimensional meanline and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques for use in a micro gas turbine (MGT) domestic combined heat and power (DCHP) application. Blade backsweep, shaft speed, and blade height were varied at a constant pressure ratio. Shaft speeds were limited to 220 000 r/min, to enable the use of a turbocharger bearing platform. Off-design compressor performance was established and used to determine the MGT performance envelope; this in turn was used to assess potential cost and environmental savings in a heat-led DCHP operating scenario within the target market of a detached family home. A low target-stage pressure ratio provided an opportunity to reduce diffusion within the impeller. Critically for DCHP, this produced very regular flow, which improved impeller performance for a wider operating envelope. The best performing impeller was a low-speed, 170 000 r/min, low-backsweep, 15° configuration producing 71.76 per cent stage efficiency at a pressure ratio of 2.20. This produced an MGT design point system efficiency of 14.85 per cent at 993 W, matching prime movers in the latest commercial DCHP units. Cost and CO2 savings were 10.7 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively, for annual power demands of 17.4 MWht and 6.1 MWhe compared to a standard condensing boiler (with grid) installation. The maximum cost saving (on design point) was 14.2 per cent for annual power demands of 22.62 MWht and 6.1 MWhe corresponding to an 8.1 per cent CO2 saving. When sizing, maximum savings were found with larger heat demands. When sized, maximum savings could be made by encouraging more electricity export either by reducing household electricity consumption or by increasing machine efficiency.

Self-assembled SnO2 micro- and nanosphere-based gas sensor thick films from an alkoxide-derived high purity aqueous colloid precursor

Tin oxide is considered to be one of the most promising semiconductor oxide materials for use as a gas sensor. However, a simple route for the controllable build-up of nanostructured, sufficiently pure and hierarchical SnO2 structures for gas sensor applications is still a challenge. In the current work, an aqueous SnO2 nanoparticulate precursor sol, which is free of organic contaminants and sorbed ions and is fully stable over time, was prepared in a highly reproducible manner from an alkoxide Sn(OR)4 just by mixing it with a large excess of pure neutral water. The precursor is formed as a separate liquid phase. The structure and purity of the precursor is revealed using XRD, SAXS, EXAFS, HRTEM imaging, FTIR, and XRF analysis. An unconventional approach for the estimation of the particle size based on the quantification of the Sn-Sn contacts in the structure was developed using EXAFS spectroscopy and verified using HRTEM. To construct sensors with a hierarchical 3D structure, we employed an unusual emulsification technique not involving any additives or surfactants, using simply the extraction of the liquid phase, water, with the help of dry butanol under ambient conditions. The originally generated crystalline but yet highly reactive nanoparticles form relatively uniform spheres through self-assembly and solidify instantly. The spheres floating in butanol were left to deposit on the surface of quartz plates bearing sputtered gold electrodes, producing ready-for-use gas sensors in the form of ca. 50 μm thick sphere-based-films. The films were dried for 24 h and calcined at 300°C in air before use. The gas sensitivity of the structures was tested in the temperature range of 150-400°C. The materials showed a very quickly emerging and reversible (20-30 times) increase in electrical conductivity as a response to exposure to air containing 100 ppm of H2 or CO and short (10 s) recovery times when the gas flow was stopped.