Yesterday, on November 5, 2015, the Zittau Power Plant Laboratory (ZKWL) was officially opened in the presence of the Saxon State Minister of Finance, Prof. Dr. Georg Unland. "The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is very well known to him for its excellent teaching and research in the field of energy and environmental technology," said the Minister of State in his speech. During the subsequent tour of the Zittau power plant laboratory, he showed great interest in the test facilities and had them explained to him in detail.
Construction of the ZKWL began on September 5, 2011. Three large-scale test plants were erected and have already been successfully tested for their functionality in recent months.
The large-scale test facilities are a magnetic bearing test rig (MFLP), a modern pressurizer test facility and a thermal storage tank (THERESA) as well as a thermochemical test field (TCV II).
The total costs for the three projects amount to 7 million euros, of which 6.3 million euros come from ERDF funds. The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences is contributing 10% of the funding. In addition, there are further construction costs of around EUR 1 million for the refurbishment of the hall. Stadtwerke Zittau GmbH is also actively supporting this project. This makes it the largest research investment since the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1992.
"We are delighted that we have now successfully completed this extensive project and can intensify our research in the field of energy and the environment," says Rector Prof. Friedrich Albrecht. "This research laboratory will further strengthen the traditional teaching and research areas for Zittau as a university location. On the one hand, this includes the energy-oriented courses of the Zittau faculties and, on the other hand, it paves the way for the expansion of research and development in this field."
The Director of the
Institute for Process Technology, Process Automation and Measurement Technology
Energy and Environmental Technology
Automation and Mechatronics
The large-scale project "Zittau Power Plant Laboratory" is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Free State of Saxony.
Another highlight of the event was the awarding of the "Prof. Hans-Joachim Hildebrand Prize". This year, the prize was awarded to the project groups in the Zittau power plant laboratory for their outstanding work in setting up the laboratory.
The "Prof. Hans-Joachim Hildebrand Prize" is awarded in recognition of scientific achievements in the fields of energy technology and the energy industry which demonstrate novel theoretical and practical findings or in which significant technical and/or economic effects are achieved through the application of known or modified laws or which have led to the development of a scientific school. The founding rector of the Zittau University of Engineering, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday today, November 6, 2015, established this prize in 1988.
About the individual projects:
Project 1: Increasing the energy efficiency of turbomachinery in power plants through innovative bearing concepts (MFLP)
Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Worlitz
Overall objective: Increasing the energy efficiency of turbomachinery by increasing efficiency through the use of innovative bearing concepts
Motivation: Conventional bearings cause energy losses due to friction and the need for oil lubrication. With magnetic bearings, the rotor floats in an air gap without mechanical contact. In this way, the losses can be reduced to 5% of the bearing losses of plain bearings.
In Germany and worldwide, magnetic bearings have long been considered for rotors in steam turbines, compressors and offshore wind turbines. The solution for high temperatures and/or aggressive atmospheres in this area lies in the development of a high-temperature magnetic bearing.
This project aims to develop the scientific and technical foundations.
In addition to the theoretical work, a test rig was developed and set up for experimental investigations of magnetic and air-termination bearings under realistic conditions.
The research results will make it possible to optimally adapt magnetic bearings to specific machines and the expected process conditions.
Project 2: Increasing energy efficiency in thermal energy systems (THERESA)
Project leader: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Kratzsch, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Kästner
Overall objective: The overall objective of the project is to create the scientific and technical basis for the application of thermal energy storage systems with the aim of increasing the energy efficiency of thermal processes (power plant processes).
Motivation: Due to the current energy policy in Germany, there are new and strongly changing demands on the existing power plant park and the transmission grids. Due to the enormous expansion of renewable forms of energy supply, thermal power plants in particular must be able to react highly flexibly to the highly volatile supply of electricity from renewable sources. The "Increasing energy efficiency in thermal power plants" project will help to ensure that thermal power plants can continue to be operated in a cost- and energy-efficient manner in the future, while stabilizing the supply grid. The use of thermal energy storage systems in thermal power plants is favored as a solution, motivated by initial experience with parabolic trough power plants. As part of the project, the THERESA (thermal energy storage plant) large-scale test facility was planned, constructed and commissioned in order to achieve the objectives. The necessary experimental investigations are being carried out with the aid of the test facility. Characteristic load transients of power plants are simulated with the help of thermodynamic simulation codes. This is used to derive conclusions for the design and operation of energy storage systems. Soft computing methods are used for the modeling and simulation of thermal energy storage systems. An online condition assessment of the energy storage systems provides information on condition-based maintenance.
In the Free State of Saxony, lignite-fired power plants are primarily responsible for covering the base load and providing the volatile residual load due to renewable energy feed-in. The flexibilization of Saxony's power plant fleet is of great importance for securing the energy supply of Saxony's industry.
Project 3: Thermochemical test field (TCV II)
Project manager: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Tobias Zschunke
Motivation: While centralized and large-scale energy supply systems will remain dominant in the German energy system and decentralized self-sufficient solutions are increasingly becoming interesting additional solutions, in many places around the world decentralized solutions involving a renewable primary energy mix are the only way to achieve progress in comfort at low cost. Regenerative energy raw materials, such as biomass, place great demands on thermochemical conversion technology.
Thermochemistry is a shorthand term for processes in which chemical decompositions and transformations take place under the influence of temperatures far above 200 °C, up to 1200 °C.
The combination of energy supply and energy utilization also requires processes for heat and cold storage and their control, which in turn are based on the fundamentals of physical chemistry. There are still some gaps in the engineering fundamentals for the dissemination of heating, cooling and electrical energy supply in decentralized networks without fossil fuels, some of which are to be closed in the "Thermochemical Test Field" project.
The following main experimental topics will be addressed:
1. investigation of the energy feedstock and intermediate product behavior under practical operating conditions in accordance with the state of the art and in additional parameter ranges
2. investigations into the thermodynamic behavior of latent heat storage systems
3. investigations into the thermodynamic behavior of latent heat storage systems
All experiments are flanked by the application and further development of mathematical and computer-aided simulation algorithms. The experimental set-ups are, of course, developed and operated in close cooperation with the existing thermochemical test facilities at the university in terms of content and, in some cases, location.
Congratulations!
Supported by:
Contact:
Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Worlitz Director IPM
Phone: 03583 / 61 24 383
E-mail: f.worlitz(at)hszg.de
Dipl.-Ing. Hella Trillenberg
Advisor to the Rector / Press Officer
Phone: 03583/ 61 1403
E-mail: presse(at)hszg.de