Abstract
An investigation was conducted to perform study of a 150 kW microturbine generator set with twin rotating disk regenerators including testing and analyses. As a result of that, we can establish the basis for future microturbine generator engine heat energy and thermal efficiency regenerative system design guidelines. Using the PC-based data acquisition system, the engine speed, turbine inlet temperature, exhaust temperature, compressor inlet and discharge pressure, and fuel flow rate were measured. The generator set was tested by using load bank to establish the baseline performance including temperature, pressure, horsepower, fuel consumption, and speed. A software program (GasTurb) was used to predict the performance of the microturbine generator set at different operating conditions in order to compare with the test results. With the above testing and analysis, we will be able to find out the performance of the 150 kW gas turbine engine including thermal efficiency vs. horsepower, fuel consumption vs. horsepower, and the regenerative performance. A thermal efficiency of 28% was predicted at full load with regeneration as compared to the no regeneration case, only 14% thermal efficiency.