PICC

Power induced catalytic combuster

The funding project entitled Power Induced Catalytic Combuster, or PICC, aims to implement a technical product development of a catalytic reactor to use low-calorific gases (gases with a low methane content) to generate energy.

The project is being realised by KAEFER Isoliertechnik GmbH & Co. KG together with Bremen University’s Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology (UFT) and Institute of Automation Technology (IAT).

Existing technologies (internal combustion engine, single chamber gas turbines, flares) can use gaseous mixtures with a minimum methane content of around 25 per cent by volume to produce energy, i.e. below that level they need the addition of extra methane, so that the PICC offers a new way to use methane concentrations of less than 25 per cent by volume.

The thermal energy generated by the PICC is converted into electricity by a unit consisting of a turbine and a generator. The high temperature of the turbine exhaust gases means that these can be used further. In contrast to systems which are based on a flame in a combustion chamber (internal combustion engine, single chamber gas turbine), the operation of the PICC does not form any carbon monoxides, since the catalytic combustion always takes place in a massive surplus of oxygen.

This quality and the ability to destroy greenhouse gases (CH4) make the PICC an extremely environmentally friendly source of energy. Throughout its operating range, the PICC attains a consistently high exhaust gas quality, as the conversion of the gases takes place in ideal conditions (roughly the same temperature throughout the entire volume of the catalyst).

The project is financed with funding from the European Union and the State of Bremen – by the Senator for Climate Change Mitigation, Environment, Mobility, Urban Development and Housing Construction under the Applied Environmental Research funding programme.