The book cover of Nord and Bolland's "Carbon Dioxide Emission Management in Power Generation".

Decarbonization of the power generation sector is a fundamental measure to reduce global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. The research has focus on novel carbon capture techniques, use of hydrogen as fuel, and other measures in decarbonized power generation. Thermal power plants around the globe are more operating in transient conditions and require fast cycling capabilities with an energy mix with variable renewable energy. The research group is developing novel approaches for optimal and flexible operation of modern plants. 

Former PhD candidates Roberto Agromayor and Giorgia Mondino with a 3D printed aerodynamically optimized one-stage axial turbine. Photo: Lars O. Nord

Heat-to-power cycles from industrial surplus heat or other sources are growing in importance as a measure to increase the efficiency of the process. A key component of many heat-to-power cycles is the turboexpander. Design and aerodynamic optimization of turbomachinery is a research focus for the group, including both numerical and experimental work. The experimental work is carried out in the unique EXPAND flexible expander test facility that utilizes natural working fluids.
 

PhD candidate Vidar Skjervold and postdoctoral fellow Marcin Pilarczyk discussing the results from in-house developed simulation tool. Photo: M.A.Motamed

First-principle high-fidelity models are required to push the knowledge boundaries of modern optimized plant processes. The research efforts in the group also include machine learning techniques, surrogate models (or reduced order models), and hybrid models. Process optimization has been established for many industrial and research cases. Plant flexibility is also pursued in the group through off-design steady-state and dynamic simulations.