Abstract
In the context of the great research pulse on clean energy transition, distributed energy systems have a key role, especially in the case of integration of both renewable and traditional energy sources. The stable interest in small-scale gas turbines can further increase owing to their flexibility in both operation and fuel supply. Since their not-excellent electrical efficiency, research activities on micro gas turbine (MGT) are focused on the performance improvements that are achievable in several ways, like modifying the Brayton cycle, integrating two or more plants, using cleaner fuels. Hence, during the last decades, the growing interest in MGT-based energy systems encouraged the development of many numerical approaches aimed to provide a reliable and effective prediction of the energy systems’ behavior. Indeed, numerical modeling can help to individuate potentialities and issues of each enhanced layout or hybrid energy system, and this review aims to discuss the various layout solutions proposed by researchers, with particular attention to recent publications, highlighting the adopted modeling approaches and methods.
Highlights
The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the energy transition are fundamental topics within the actual EU recovery plan NextGenerationEU [1]
The hybrid energy systems are usually made by a renewable energy plant coupled with ther‐ mal prime movers like internal combustion engines or gas turbines; alternative hybrid layouts involve the waste heat recovery approach, in which two or more energy conver‐ sion systems are coupled based on the temperature level of the heat source, like a gas turbine and organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with a gas tur‐ bine, that will be discussed in the following subsections
Stud‐ ies and research activities are mainly addressed to the individuation of enhanced layouts able to overcome those performance limits typical of small‐scale gas turbines and to the integration of micro gas turbine (MGT) with other systems in hybrid and complex energy systems able to guarantee both high‐performance levels and the diversification of the energy sources
Summary
The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the energy transition are fundamental topics within the actual EU recovery plan NextGenerationEU [1]. The research is focused on low‐medium term solutions In this context, distributed energy systems and small‐scale smart energy grids represent a viable solution to contribute to greenhouse and pollutant emissions reduction, mainly owing to the benefits of combined heat and power operation [2,3]. The introduction of characteristic maps of rotating components and of the regenerative heat exchanger can lead to more accurate predictions of MGT plant performance In these cases, a zero‐dimensional analysis can be coupled with experimental information of single components, to increase the quality of numerical results and to extend the analysis to off‐design conditions with an adequate capability of simulating the actual behavior of the energy system.
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