In 2012 the Capture group continued its longstanding collaboration with the Energy Conversion Systems Group at Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI). The research used the novel bottoming cycle optimization methodology of Prof. Emanuele Martelli (former Capture group visiting researcher) to re-analyze and understand more deeply the efficiencies of advanced energy conversion facilities that produce both electricity and liquid fuels. By generating both theoretically optimal and more realistic (i.e., economically viable) plant configurations for waste heat recovery, Martelli’s software provides important context for previous Capture group work, highlighting the difference between suboptimal designs versus fundamental concessions necessary for improved operability and economics.
The research of Dr. Andrea Lanzini (in residence with the Capture group in 2010 as a Fulbright scholar and currently a researcher at Politecnico di Torino) on solid oxide fuel cells and fuel cell/gas turbine (FCGT) hybrids was the focus of another Italian collaboration. Lanzini applied the Capture group’s systems analysis methodologies to advanced power plants, coupling coal gasification with FCGT hybrids, focusing on strategies for “methanating” synthesis gas upstream of the SOFC in order to improve overall conversion efficiency and reduce plant costs.