This paper describes two gas turbine related research projects in the department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia. Of the two projects described, one involves fundamental turbomachinery research while the second is a more applied project concerned with gas turbine based cogeneration systems in process industries. In the fundamental research area, both an experimental and computational study of unsteady boundary layer development on turbomachinery blading is described. The applied research program involves an engineering and economic assessment of a gas turbine based cogeneration system for sawmills. The system is designed to use wood-waste generated during the saw-milling process as a source of heat for an indirectly fired gas turbine. Studies to date indicate that such a system could result in many sawmills becoming completely energy self-sufficient.
Life-cycle assessment of transportation biofuels from hydrothermal liquefaction of forest residues in British Columbia
