Behavior of Capstone and Honeywell Microturbine Generators During Load Changes

This report describes test measurements of the behavior of two microturbine generators (MTGs) under transient conditions. The tests were conducted under three different operating conditions: grid-connect; stand-alone single MTG with load banks; and two MTGs running in parallel with load banks. Tests were conducted with both the Capstone 30-kW and Honeywell Parallon 75- kW MTGs. All tests were conducted at the Southern California Edison /University of California, Irvine (UCI) test facility. In the grid-connected mode, several test runs were conducted with different set-point changes both up and down and a start up and shutdown were recorded for each MTG. For the stand-alone mode, load changes were initiated by changing load-bank values (both watts and VARs). For the parallel mode, tests involved changes in the load-bank settings as well as changes in the power set point of the MTG running in grid-connect mode. Detailed graphs of the test results are presented. It should be noted that these tests were done using a specific hardware and software configuration. Use of different software and hardware could result in different performance characteristics for the same units.