The main interests of the Centre of Heat and Power Engineering are problems of thermomechanics of fluid flow machinery and cogeneration of heat and power. The investigations include both fundamental research of energy conversion in heat and fluid flow as well as applied research related to diagnostics, design, experimental and numerical analysis, also retrofit of turbines, combustion engines, heat exchangers and other heat and power generating devices. The Centre of Heat and Power Engineering employs about 35 people and consists of three departments:

• Turbine Department
• Department of Distributed Energy and RES
• Heat Transfer Department

Works carried out at the Centre of Heat and Power Engineering combine theoretical, numerical and experimental investigations.  For numerical investigations we use a number of in-house heat, flow and structure solvers as well as a number of commercial packages. Experimental investigations are made in our well equipped laboratory base at the Institute of Fluid Flow Machinery and from 2015 at the new subsidiary – Research Centre at Jabłonna.

Besides statutory activities our employees take part and coordinate a number of research projects, including a national strategic programme entitled Advanced Technologies for Energy Production, Task 4 - Elaboration of Advanced Integrated Technologies for the Production of Fuels and Energy from Biomass, Agricultural Waste and other Wastes.

The team of our employees, headed by Director Prof. Kiciński, was granted a first-rank award of Prime Minister for a scientific-technical achievement „New Technologies for Small-Scale Distributed Energy Systems in Autonomous Energy Centres”. The scope of work includes a technical and economic analysis of a model energy centre with a fuel diversity. The whole heat and power system (of electric power up to 10 MWe and heating power up to 25MWt) consists of four modules: biomass-fed ORC and steam turbine cycle, natural gas combustion piston engine and coal boiler. The elaborated system enables high-efficiency cogeneration according to the local demand for heat.

The Centre cooperates with industrial partners for whom we offer:

 

• design and analysis of dedicated poligeneration systems,
• diagnostics, numerical analysis, design and modernisation of flow systems for steam, ORC and gas turbines,
• measurement of thermal and flow processes in industrial devices,
• design and diagnostics of heat pumps, cold production systems and heat storage tanks with phase transformation materials,
• measurements of gas flows in the electrostatic precipitators.