In the Polygeneration course, simultaneous generation of several energy services is in focus, for example electricity, heat, cold, purified water or dry air. It can take place by using a combination of several renewable energy sources to feed a system of energy converters. To achieve increased sustainability, a large part of the energy losses are captured and utilised for simultaneous generation of different energy services.

The following subject areas are covered:

- Properties of different energy converters and their suitability for different system configurations.

- Efficiency compared with separate generation of such energy services.

- Environmentally and economically positive and negative properties.

- Bridging of temporal variations in the inflow of energy and the need for energy services.

- Cogeneration.

- Control principles and control strategies.

- Integration of intelligent energy buffers and their interplay with control systems and energy converters.

- Thermo-economic optimisation of Polygeneration systems.

- Sustainability consequences (positive and negative) of to introduce Polygeneration systems.

The course intends to integrate the different engineering skills that the students have acquired,and apply them to small-scale combined energy systems- Polygeneration.

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• In detail describe systems for simultaneous generation of several energy services that are run by a combination of different energy sources with special focus on:
• Describe and be able to carry out engineering design of energy storage (batteries, warm or cold thermal energy storage, pre-treated fuel, reservoirs with purified water etc)
• Describe and in an engineering manner create functional control strategies for combined energy systems
• Describe how small-scale Polygeneration systems can function connected or not connected to an electric grid, where the grid can be a classical national grid or a grid with distributed power generation
• Carry out thermo-economic optimisation for technically robust, environmentally friendly and economic, small-scale combined energy systems

Course structure

Period 1:

In study period 1, a number of lectures and seminars are held. During the seminars, certain topics within the scope of the seminar will be discussed  and application examples will be given. To each seminar, students are requested to study the corresponding course material (such as Power point presentations, recorded lectures, MSc or BSc theses, scientific papers etc).
The material is available in Canvas. The purpose of the lectures and discussions is to give a solid theoretical background that should be utilized during the execution of the project in Period 2. 
  
In period 1, there are also two group assignments and a written exam.

Period 2:

Project on a polygeneration application: Design and calculation of a polygeneration system for a certain application, incl. implementation roadmap.

A detailed course schedule is available in Canvas.

To be successful in this course basic knowledge in the following areas is needed:

• Introduction to heat transfer and thermodynamics.
• Working principle of the following components( at least basic knowledge): Turbines, compressors, electric generators, chillers, heat exchangers, boilers, burners.
• Being familiar with different thermodynamic cycles: Rankin , Brayton , Stirling.
• Electric power engineering properties.

These prerequisites can be defined in the frame of the following courses:

• • MJ1112 Applied Thermodynamics (or equivalent).
  • MJ2405 Sustainable Power Generation (or equivalent)
  • MJ2490 Environomical pathways (or equivalent)
  • MJ2491 Environomical Pathways, Advanced Course (or equivalent)

• Lecture handouts (in Canvas)
• Recorded lectures and seminars
• Scientific articles available through DIVA, Canvas or KTH library
• External links

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

• INLA - Assignments, 1.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• PROA - Project work, 3.0 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F
• TENA - Written exam, 2.0 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Written exam ( TENA )

The written exam will be performed at the end of Period 1 and a re-exam in the later part of December. NB! Do not forget to register for the exams within the prescribed time! The exam and the re-exam are planned to be 4-hour home exams. Each exam has two parts - Part 1 with 10 multiple choice questions addressing various conceptual Polygeneration issues and Part 2 which adresses a Polygeneration design problem with approx. 10 sub-tasks. More details about the exams will be given later.

Assignments ( INLA )

The course will, to a high degree, be based on individual and group studies and tasks. During the course, two compulsory assignments will be handed out. The assignments are group assignments, where a correctly solved assignment also gives two bonus points at the first exam writing, and a partly correct solution gives partial points. (These points not applicable at a re-exam). The assignments should be handed in through Canvas before the stated deadlines.

Project work ( PROA )

The course project will be introduced at the middle of Period 1. The projects will be carried out in groups of 4-6 students and the focus will be a detailed system design of a Polygeneration system that should meet certain user demands and that is located in a specific geographic region. Due to economic constraints, a complete system cannot easily be implemented from start. An important part of the project is to establish an implementation roadmap, allowing stepwise investment at a pace determined by the financial capability of the user/owner. The project is finished with a written report of 20-25 pages and should be presented to the other groups and other interested students and faculty during a poster session in the last part of period 2. Depending on the actual state of the Covid-19 restrictions, this session may be online or on Campus.

The final mark is put through joining of the results of TENA and PROA with consideration taken to their parts of the credits.

The Intended Learning Outcome is examined in the following way:

At the exam, A-points, C-points and E-points can be earned. A preliminary grading scheme is shown below:

(max score: 60 points)

The project is graded as follows:

(max score: 68 points)

The project grade of an individual student in a group can be one step higher or lower depending on the contribution in relation to the other group members.

The course grade is based on the exam results and on the grade earned on the project report, and is awarded on the condition that all assignments have been completed. The course is graded according to the criteria listed below.

The grading scale ranges from A (excellent) to F/FX (fail).

A=excellent,

B=very good

C=good

D=satisfactory

E=sufficient

A distinction is made between the grades FX and F that are used for unsuccessful students. FX means: “fail- some more work required to pass” and F means: “fail – considerable further work required”.

The exam results are normally available within 15 working days after the exam. The results are then visible in "My pages" after logging in at kth.se. 

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.