Marcus Thern

My main interest is engineering thermodynamics and cycle analysis. I am working with design and modeling of different thermal cycles by means of Heat and Mass Balance Programs (HMBPs) and evaluation of gas turbine performance with these heat balance programs. 

I received my Ph.D. at Lund University and the focus of my research as a Ph.D. student was the performance of wet gas turbine cycles and especially the Evaporative Gas Turbine Cycle (EvGT) or the Humid Air Turbine (HAT) as it is also referred to. During my Ph.D. studies I studied the influence of parameters vital to the wet gas turbine cycle performance. This includes the study of humidification processes in the humidification tower which is a vital component in the Evaporative Gas Turbine Cycle. My studies were both theoretical and experimental and I performed experimental investigations in the Evaporative Gas Turbine pilot plant.

The Evaporative Gas Turbine pilot plant is a test facility erected at Lund University to study the effects of water humidification in gas turbine cycles and the change in operating characteristics of the core engine due to water injection. This project was in close contact with major companies in the power plant industry, i.e. Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery, E.On, Vattenfall, Elforsk, Energi E2 and Volvo Aero Corporation. I was a part of the detailed project planning of the erection of the full scale gas turbine test facility all through the erection phase which has included the planning of the process layout to find the most suitable configuration for the test facility. Financial plans were developed for the project and finalized by the purchase and installation of the equipment. I have also been responsible for the data acquisition system and the operation and maintenance of the Evaporative Gas Turbine test facility. As a Ph.D. student I planned the experimental part of the research on wet gas turbine cycles to improve the knowledge of wet gas turbine cycles. More about the EvGT cycle can be found here

During my research it became clear that the humidification technique could be utilized in order to increase the fuel flexibility of gas turbines. This led to an increased focus on the integration of bio-fuel into wet gas turbine cycles, and especially a focus of evaporation of binary liquids. This study aimed at clarifying the possibility of using the humidification processes, which exists in the evaporative gas turbine cycle, to supply the gas turbine with liquid bio-fuels. The study resulted in an increased knowledge of the performance of gas turbines operating both with a combination of bio-fuel and a combination of bio-fuel and natural gas. The use of both experimental and theoretical studies in this field has given me a unique understanding of the operation and performance of wet gas turbine cycles using flexible fuels. It also gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the problems of operation and maintenance.

Min forskning är inriktad mot termodynamisk modellering av system såsom kraftverk och fartyg