(170c) Enhanced Gas Turbine Process with Microstructured Devices

The gas turbine process (Joule process) is one of the most common thermodynamic cycles for energy generation. The thermodynamic efficiency is determined by the highest process temperature as well as the isentropic efficiencies of compressor and turbine. While major effort was put on material enhancement of turbine blades and aerodynamic design of compressors stages, microstructured devices open new opportunities for process augmentation. This presentation displays application possibilities of micromixers in premixed combustion for compact combustion chambers and the integration of intermediate mixing steps for constant temperature in the turbine. The influence on the overall efficiency is shown. Additionally, some possibilities of oxygen enrichment by microstructured devices are shown to reduce the compression effort.