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On-campus
cooperation in energy research at KTH is largely organized
via KTH Energy Center, a multidisciplinary group of over 250
professors, senior researchers, and Ph.D. students located
at eight academic departments. One of Energy Center's
strengths in sustainable energy research is the availability
of large-scale research facilities. In particular, the
center has profiled itself strongly within the discipline of
thermal power generation, a critical research area within
the EU with regards to meeting sustainable environmental and
growth targets. SUSPOWER features world-class facilities in
three separate installations related to:
(i)
Innovative Combustion -
research facilities cover two critical topics, namely
high-temperature air combustion and catalytic combustion.
These topics are linked to promising technologies for
significantly improved fuel conversion efficiencies along
with ultra-low NOx emissions for fossil fuels and gasified
biomass or wastes.
(ii)
Gasification - Both
atmospheric and pressurized gasifiers are available;
feedstocks include biomass, wastes, and coal.
(iii)
Gas Turbine Technology -
State-of-the-art facilities for investigating aerodynamics
and aeroelasticity in gas turbine components are available,
including advanced instrumentation such as a 3-D
laser-2-focus velocimeter.
Facilities allow for in-depth, targeted research in specific
areas while collectively enable the possibility of broad
experimental programs involving several energy conversion
steps. Coupling to numerical studies (either at detailed
component level or system-level) is another important
feature. The objective of SUSPOWER is to cluster these
facilities to promote synergy effects between neighboring
facilities and to open up access to researchers across
Europe. A total of 510 experimental days will be offered to
external users for the 36 month period, and each visit is
expected to encompass 15 experimental days.
Additional
background information
Sustainable thermal power
generation is one of several key areas of outstanding
importance in the European energy perspective. Today,
combustion processes are responsible for a major portion of
Europe’s electricity, heating, and industrial steam needs.
Fossil fuels like coal and natural gas will continue to be
important in the future within this context. It is
imperative that new technologies be developed to ensure
resource-efficient and clean conversion of these supplies.
Moreover, promising sources like biomass require significant
research efforts if they are to have a major impact in
electricity markets. Experimental investigations performed
within the SUSPOWER initiative will contribute positively to
these areas.
Some possible examples for
research within the SUSPOWER context include the following:
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Access
to one-of-a-kind facilities in Europe allowing
researchers to perform cutting-edge investigations in
high-temperature air combustion, catalytic combustion,
and blade/flow interactions in gas turbines.
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Ability
to test new types of fuel feedstocks in both atmospheric
and pressurized gasification facilities.
Testing of novel catalyst materials and support matrices
in catalytic combustion tests under industrially
relevant conditions.
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Possibility of connecting new test sections to
windtunnel facilities to employ high air mass flow rates
and utilize existing array of sophisticated pressure
transducers and laser velocimeters.
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Validation of existing computational models or
development of new models based on results obtained from
these facilities.
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Potential for novel multidisciplinary research involving
neighboring installations.
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