Real-time tool for management of smart polygeneration grids including thermal energy storage

The experimental plant developed by TPG for studies on distributed generation systems was used for tests on management improvement. The facility is based on two co-generation prime movers, a 100kWe gas turbine (mGT) and a 20kWe internal combustion engine (ICE) connected to an innovative thermal distribution grid. The piping layout was developed to obtain the highest flexibility level for connection with thermal energy storage devices. The resulting test rig constitutes an experimental hardware platform for assessing, on a real basis, the performance of different tools able to choose, in real-time mode, the “best” operative conditions. Therefore, a real-time software was developed to calculate marginal costs of plant operation and to improve the polygeneration grid management.