gas microturbines

[nibot]

Gas microturbines. Harbec Plastics. Rochester, NY. February 17, 2006.

Harbec Plastics uses a lot of energy. The energy that doesn't come from the wind comes from these gas microturbines. Each unit looks kind of like a front-loading laundry machine yet contains a scaled-down version of a jet engine, coupled to an electrical generator. Each one generates thirty thousand watts of power. Each one has only one moving part, and is virtually maintenance-free. The exhaust gas—550 degrees Fahrenheit— is collected and run through a heat exchanger; the captured heat is used in the industrial process, for heating, and, counterintuitively, for cooling too, via an absorption chiller [link?] (on the right). The result is vastly improved efficiency. Lower costs. Less pollution.

The process of generating heat and electricity simultaneously (or utilizing the "waste heat" from electrical generation) is known as Cogeneration. The bizarre thing is that it is 2006 and this is still considered a novel idea.

Comments

[nanomonkey.livejournal.com]

Nice. I've been in the process of building a cogeneration plant for my father's house. I'm using a stirling engine instead. A microturbine would be an awesome alternative.

I agree, it is bizarre that cogeneration plants are so obscure and novel...every pizza place should be producing their own power as their ovens produce heat. And on the other hand, the home radiators of each town could be the cooling units of the local factories or powerplants.

[nanomonkey.livejournal.com]

Well, in this case I'm doing it because he heats his house from wood fuel. The stirling engine makes very little noise and doesn't need much maintanance as it's completely sealed. In the case of a steam engine you need constant maintanance of the boiler and if something goes wrong you have pressurized steam and boiler plate flying everywhere. Plus, steam engines are loud, even turbines. Also, I know very little about turbines compared to stirling engines, and I'm unsure if I could build one right now, even though I'm getting better at using my CNC mill every day. The stirling engine I'm pretty sure I can accomplish with some success.

Stirling engines run pretty close to the carnot cycle, especially for Vb>>Va and Th>>Tl. I'm not too worried about efficiencies. The commercial versions I'm basing this design off of all have in the neighborhood of 25%. Seeing on how my father already is heating his house, anything we get out of the system is free electricity.

The stirling engine will be a self starting four cylinder with graphite pistons (self lubricating). I'm planning on using pressurized helium as the working fluid as it's readily available and easier to use than hydrogen, even though that might give better results. I was planning on using liquid cooling, running a radiator outside (perhaps an old heater core out of a car).

I plan on building a permanent magnet altenator, whose stator will be wound for three phase ac, much like what they build at otherpower.com.

In the future I'd like to build a parabolic mirror to run stirling engine off the sun. It shouldn't be too difficult to convert an old satelite dish for this. I'm also thinking about buying a larger CNC mill and doing some nice wind turbine blades, although building towers for wind turbines can get quite expensive.

hmmm...

[caerglas.livejournal.com]

No, YOU'RE a gas turbine.

Sorry, that childish jibe just had to be said. :)

[lert.livejournal.com]

I was just reading in PopSci about a CAR that basically uses cogen. It is too heavy right now (since there is basically a little steam engine inside), but BMW (!) thinks it'll be road-ready within a decade.

[cassiusdio.livejournal.com]

Actually BMW has long been at the forefront of alternative fuels and other automotive technology.

http://www.bmwworld.com/hydrogen/