Microturbines

Extensive field test data collected from units currently in use at commercial and industrial facilities will provide manufacturers with the ability to improve the microturbine design, lowering costs and increasing performance, in order to produce a competitive distributed generation product. Utilities, government agencies, and other organizations are involved in collaberative research and field testing (see Research Initiatives Section). In addition, manufacturers are moving toward packaging microturbine generators with integrated heat recovery equipment to lower both the cost of installation and operation.

Development is ongoing in a variety of areas:

• Heat recovery/cogeneration
• Fuel flexibility
• Vehicles
• Hybrid systems (e.g., fuel cell/microturbine, flywheel/microturbine)