Microturbines

Microturbines are small combustion turbines that produce between 25 kW and 500 kW of power. Microturbines were derived from turbocharger technologies found in large trucks or the turbines in aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs).

Most microturbines are single-stage, radial flow devices with high rotating speeds of 90,000 to 120,000 revolutions per minute.

Fuel	Natural gas, hydrogen, propane, diesel
Efficiency	20 – 30% (Recuperated)
Environmental	Low (< 9 – 50 ppm) NOx

Microturbines are a relatively new distributed generation technology being used for stationary energy generation applications. They are a type of combustion turbine that produces both heat and electricity on a relatively small scale. Microturbines offer several potential advantages compared to other technologies for small-scale power generation, including: a small number of moving parts, compact size, lightweight, greater efficiency, lower emissions, lower electricity costs, and opportunities to utilize waste fuels. Waste heat recovery can also be used with these systems to achieve efficiencies greater than 80%.

Because of their small size, relatively low capital costs, expected low operations and maintenance costs, and automatic electronic control, microturbines are expected to capture a significant share of the distributed generation market.

(Ca. gov, Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG)-National Institute of Building Sciences)