Principles of Solar Gas Turbines for Electricity Generation

This is the first book dedicated to solar gas turbines, providing fundamental knowledge and state-of-the-art developments in the field. A gas turbine is a heat engine in which a mixture of fuel and air is burned in a chamber that is an integral part of the flow circuit of the working fluid. The burnt gas mixture expands and turns the turbine, which can be connected to a generator for electricity production. Solar gas turbines offer an important alternative to conventional gas turbines driven by non-renewable, polluting fossil fuels such as diesel or natural gas. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the topic as well as numerous illustrations.

Dr Amos Madhlopa joined the Energy Research Centre in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa as a Senior Research Officer in January 2013. He has previous teaching and research experience from the University of Strathclyde, UK (2010¿2011) and University of Malawi, Malawi (1991¿2010, 2012). He has developed and taught several energy-related courses, and supervised undergraduate and postgraduate students. His primary research focus area has been sustainable energy engineering, with great emphasis on renewable energy technologies. He has experience in the development of hybrid solar-fuel gas turbines. Dr Madhlopa has more than 20 referred publications, including a book chapter on solar gas turbine systems. He is a member of the Honorary Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Thermal Engineering, and a referee for many international journals including Applied Energy, Applied Thermal Engineering, Engineering Science and Technology, Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, Renewable Energy and Solar Energy. He received an award of Innovations for Development in Southern & Eastern Africa (IDESA) in 2003, in recognition of his novel research work in solar drying. Later in 2009, the Royal Society of the United Kingdom awarded him with a Newton Fellowship, which is a highly competitive award given to outstanding early stage postdoctoral researchers from different countries in the world.

1. Introduction.- 2. Main components and thermodynamic cycles of solarized gas turbines.- 3.Configuration of solarised gas turbines.- 4. Design, testing and installation of solarised gas turbines.- 5. Economics of solarized gas turbines.- Appendices.