According to its own statements, KIT has achieved a runtime record with a compressorless gas turbine. The combustion chamber ran for 303 seconds – more than five minutes. This surpasses the previous record of the US space agency NASA of 250 seconds. Earlier tests had only lasted fractions of a second because the combustion chambers would otherwise melt.
“This is an important step towards highly efficient and flexible hydrogen energy for a fossil-free energy system,” says Professor Daniel Banuti, Director of the Institute of Thermal Energy Technology and Safety at KIT.
Pressure Gain Combustion Replaces Mechanical Compressor
The technology is based on the so-called pressure gain combustion. In classic gas turbines, a mechanical compressor consumes about half of the generated power to compress the combustion air. In the new technology, detonation waves in the combustion chamber take over this task. The waves arise from a fluid mechanical instability of the flow – without moving parts. “A classic gas turbine, as we see in power plants or under the wings of airplanes, consumes about 50 percent of its power to compress air to the high pressure required for efficient combustion – power that is then not used for electricity generation,” says Banuti.
First Successful Electricity Generation Without Compressor
In addition to the runtime record, the team claims to have succeeded for the first time in generating electricity with such a compressorless turbine. Coupling a turbine to the combustion chamber is an additional challenge, as the extremely rapid combustion processes make stable energy transfer difficult. “We are the first to successfully operate such a turbine and generate electricity with it,” says Banuti.
Hydrogen Particularly Suitable
According to KIT, the technology is not limited to hydrogen. However, hydrogen is particularly suitable because it reacts extremely quickly and enables stable pressure increases. In the long term, KIT sees applications for this in power generation and aviation. The researchers plan to present the gas turbine at the Hannover Messe from April 20 to 24, 2026.
