The microturbine also will be used to familiarize engineering students with distributed power generation. This retrofit installation demonstrates the relative ease of how emerging energy technologies, like microturbines and fuel cells, can work in synchronization with existing systems, while boosting energy efficiency and savings. The microturbine is estimated to save more than $10,000 a year for the university and provide more than 200,000 Kwh power annually.
Microturbine technology is an efficient, compact, ultra-low-emission way to produce power and heat for combined heat and power applications. The CU microturbine is fueled by high-pressure natural gas, which powers the turbine engine. The engine has just one moving part, a shaft with a turbine wheel on one end, a permanent magnet generator on the other, and an air compressor wheel in the middle.
