Scroll Expander vs Axial (turbo) Expander 1

[Dawsonh4]

I am trying to determine the advantages/disadvantages of different types of expanders for air expansion that will drive a generator. The two most promising seems to be turbo expanders and scroll expanders. Does anyone have an understanding of how one could be better than the other?

 

[georgeverghese]

The OpCo I used to work for toyed around with Coppus turbines (for power generation) for remote offshore satellite oil production stations for many years in the 1980s', all with poor reliability. But these were in 2phase application (liquid/gas), so you might get better reliability if you could operate these in single phase gas. Talk to Coppus; Google tells me Dresser Rand have bought them over now.
OpCos struggle with this problem to generate electric power reliably with next to zero manning for remote satellites; solutions with mixed success include thermo electric generators(TEG), onboard diesel engine generator, and other hybrid solutions (natural gas powered hydraulic power packs for automated valves and battery packs strictly for controls and SCADA). Dedicated power cable from a distant mother platform is expensive but reliable. No easy solutions.

http://ecogenthermoelectric.com/tpl/docs/ecogen_catalog_eng.pdf