The paper presents the results of the design analysis and experimental investigations of the microturbine set consisting of the microturbine with partial admission and permanent magnet generator. The microturbine was designed for operation with the vapour of ethanol as a working fluid. Microturbine unit was tested for different parameters of the working fluid and varying the electrical load. The examples and the comparison between experiment results and numerical simulations are shown and discussed in the paper.

Recently, the search for new effective energy production solutions has been focused on the production of electricity using renewable and environmentally friendly carriers. This resulted in an increased interest in PV cells and cogeneration systems. The article looks at the main factors affecting their operational parameters against the background of the development history of subsequent generations of PV cells. Average daily solar radiation and wind velocity in Lodz were characterized. The research was done on a static and tracking system with a total peak power of 15 kWp and a 30 kW microturbine. PV panels are installed on the building of the Institute of Electrical Power Engineering of the Lodz University of Technology and they work as part of DERLab. A microturbine is inside the building. Energy measurements were carried out in 2016 giving grounds for the analysis of energy efficiency and financial analysis of the energy supply in buildings. Energy yields in the static and tracking system as well as percentage coverage of electricity from PV cells and microturbines were assessed. The distribution of monthly savings, annual savings of energy costs and the payback time of the investment costs of the systems subject to the test were determined. The research we have done allows us to say that the energy produced by follow-up modules is about 3 times greater than that generated in stationary modules. On the other hand, the annual savings of energy costs using gas micro-turbines are about 10 times higher than those of lagging panels. The analysis shows that it is possible to determine the profitability of the microturbine and photovoltaic panels use despite large financial outlays. The payback period of investment outlays is about 12 years when using the installation throughout the year.

The purpose of this work is to design and determine the performance of a prototype centrifugal pump impeller for an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power plant of maximum power 100 kW. The centrifugal pump is especially designed to work on the same shaft as the corresponding ORC microturbine. The ORC unit works on R7100 (HFE7100) – a lowboiling fluid characterized by a zero ozone depletion potential coefficient. The pump has the following rated parameters: nominal flow rate of working fluid 4 kg/s, operating rotor speed 10 000 rpm. The pump designed by means of the 0D meanline method is subject to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations and analysis. The obtained flow field results are discussed and performance characteristics of the pump are presented. The non-cavitating operational region is determined for the pump.