Anywhere there is an industrial process that involves transforming raw materials into useful products – steel mills, paper plants, refineries, chemical plants, oil and gas pipelines, pollution control equipment, and general manufacturing — heat is wasted as a result. If not captured and used, waste heat is released to the atmosphere missing an energy efficiency opportunity. Waste Heat Recovery is the process of collecting waste heat and using it to fill a desired purpose elsewhere. It is Cool Energy’s novel technology that captures and converts this largely untapped waste heat to generate electricity.  The incorporation of our technology allows the industrial user to put their heat waste back into the process that created it. Installing the ThermoHeart™ Engine(s) on waste heat streams from industrial processes can have payback times as short as one year.

According to the United States Department of Energy, up to 50 percent of the energy from all fuels burned in the U.S. ends up in the atmosphere as waste heat. Research indicates that recovery of the energy waste from industrial facilities could fulfill up to 20 percent of total U.S. electricity demand and simultaneously effect a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that 11GW of power could be generated in the US alone if the best quality waste heat from commercial and industrial operations were collected and converted to electricity.   Public Benefit of Waste Heat Recovery

Pollution Control

Pollution control equipment is used to destroy particulates and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) that are produced by industrial processes such as coffee roasting, metal coating and painting, and cement manufacturing.  The gas that is emitted from the combustion chamber of this equipment has a temperature that ranges from 300C to 600C. This clean, hot gas is passed through a heat exchanger and then circulates into Cool Energy’s ThermoHeart™ Engine, producing electricity from the Stirling cycle machine. This electricity reducing the customer’s electricity bill and operating costs. For plants operating on a 24/7 schedule in Europe or Japan, the payback times are as short as two years.Pollution control machines of this type are used across many different processes, including food processing, baking, brewing, metal finishing, paint spraying, soil remediation, and petroleum processing.

Diesel

One application being targeted for initial product deployment is waste heat recovery from the exhaust of diesel gensets (DGs) and shipboard generators.  With an easy retrofit, Cool Energy’s engine can boost the output of DGs by 10% to 20% when recovering the waste heat the generator exhausts. There are two basic options available for how to use the electrical energy produced by the ThermoHeart™ Engine: load reduction and battery charging. In remote and military settings where fully burdened diesel fuel can cost up to $15/gal including transport costs, the payback period for the engine can be less than one year.   The reduced requirement for transport of fuel is a highly valuable benefit to the military, as the majority of present war casualties occur during resupply missions of water and fuel.

Visit the Heat is Power Association for more information on this industry.