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Waste Heat Recovery Applications - using Bowman Exhaust Gas Heat Exchanger

Product News Monday, January 20, 2014: Bowman E J (Birmingham) Ltd

Cool Energy recently announced the successful demonstration of 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% and helping globally in the fight against climate change and air pollution.

Boulder, Colorado-based Cool Energy has created a Stirling engine system that 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 stated:-

“This achievement is the culmination of six years of effort. We have successfully demonstrated that our SolarHeart Engine energy boost system generates carbon-free electricity simply from the exhaust waste heat of a diesel generator.

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% of the energy created by engine generators is lost as wasted heat. Cool Energy has achieved a robust 22% efficiency in heat to electricity conversion. Applied to distributed electricity generators, this amounts to a 10% 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 Bowman 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.

Around the world, especially in remote areas and on islands, diesel generators are often the primary source of electricity. Operators using Cool Energy’s SolarHeart Engine will need 10% 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.