Microturbine Demonstration at Atlantis Marine World Aquarium
Unit Specifications (ISO Conditions) Full-load power 28kW* net (+/- 1) N0 x emissions: 15% O 2 Natural gas input: 420,000 Btu/hr Dimensions: 74.8”H, 28.1” W, 52.9” D Sound level: 65 33ft *Low pressure natural gas model
Advertised efficiency levels were verified within the manufacturer’s tolerances. Emission performance at steady state loads appears to be a strong advantage with NO x and CO readings below 20 ppm at full load. Various design deficiencies were brought to the manufacturer’s attention. Microturbine tested at Gas Technology Institute’s Distributed Energy Test Center Lab tested prior to installation
Located along the Peconic River in downtown Riverhead 3.2 acre facility contains over 80 exhibits including the largest live coral reef display in the U.S. Field test site Atlantis Marine World Aquarium Not this Atlantis!
Units installed in July, 2000 But...
Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) is not under jurisdiction of Public Service Commission. New York State’s standard interconnection requirements (SIR) much less stringent than LIPA’s parallel generation agreement. Interconnection issue LIPA Parallel Generation Agreement NYS Standard Interconnection Requirements
LIPA agrees to honor SIR After over six months of negotiations!!! In January 2001
System startup Jan Capstone 30kW microturbine Natural gas compressor Unifin heat exchanger System baseloaded Operates grid-parallel Heat recovery supplements existing water heaters
Ironing out the bugs First Capstone installation the NYC Metropolitan area! Early compressor selection by Capstone proved to be unreliable replaced twice. Digital control board was also replaced.
Field monitoring Power Measurement ION 7500 Yokogawa DX-210
Data acquisition system
System performance *Based on LHV
Daily summer-time performance *Based on LHV
Daily winter-time performance *Based on LHV
Capstone has switched to a more reliable compressor. United Technologies (UTC) has purchased 4.9% of Capstone. 60 kW unit has been introduced. 60 kW unit with packaged heat recovery has been commercialized. UTC Power has introduced hybrid microturbine/chiller packages. 200 kW unit undergoing field testing in New York, California and Connecticut. What has changed since 2001
Lab testing uncovered design flaws. Initial compressor selection proven unreliable. Heat recovery potential sometimes overestimated. After design and equipment modifications microturbines can run very reliably. Atlantis unit running very well after 27,000 hours of baseload operation 99.8% availability during last 12 months. Lessons learned