Greentech Lead U.S: Cool Energy has demonstrated a
breakthrough in converting wasted heat into electricity for commercial,
industrial and military applications.
This new waste heat recovery technology can
dramatically boost the fuel efficiency of engines around the world, reducing
fossil fuel use by 10 percent and helping globally in the fight against climate
change and air pollution, the company said.
The Stirling engine system captures the exhaust energy of
an internal combustion engine and converts it into electricity with no extra
carbon emissions.
This week, the company connected its patented 3kW
SolarHeart Engine system to a standard 30kW diesel generator to produce
additional electricity from waste heat that would otherwise be lost. This
innovation will boost the performance of all types of engines – whether they
are powered by diesel, gasoline or natural gas.
Sam Weaver, CEO of Cool Energy, said, “If our power
conversion technology was used globally on small diesel generators, nearly 500
million gallons of diesel fuel per year would be saved in the telecom sector
alone.”
More than 60 percent of the energy created by engine
generators is lost as wasted heat. Cool Energy has achieved a robust 22 percent
efficiency in heat to electricity conversion. Applied to distributed
electricity generators, this amounts to a 10 percent fuel savings. In mass
production, the Stirling engine system will pay for itself in less than one
year in many situations.
While the Stirling Engine has been around for almost 200
years, Cool Energy has pioneered several innovations in the engine design to
make it practical to achieve record cost and fuel savings, including features
such as oil-free self-lubricating pistons, highly effective heat exchangers,
and a high-reliability design. The engine is housed in a fully sealed package
designed to operate for more than 10 years with no internal service required.
Operators using Cool Energy’s SolarHeart Engine will need
10 percent less diesel fuel transported to these locations. For the military in
combat operations, this can be a significant savings in lives as well as
dollars.