10 Kilowatt Organic Rankine Cycle Waste Heat Power Generator by Infinity Turbine ® - Test Runs

Here are the initial test runs of the Infinity Turbine ® Model IT10 Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) 5-12 kWe waste heat to power generator. http://www.infinityturbine.com IT10 Brochure and Pricing: http://www.infinityturbine.com/pdf/IT10_brochure.pdf The rack-mounted design incorporates flat plate heat exchangers to convert 80 C hot water into vaporized R134 refrigerant as the working fluid. The pressurized refrigerant (about 150 psi) is then expanded through a custom turbine which spins a shaft at 20,000 rpm (no load). When the permanent magnet alternator is applied, the shaft spools down to about 8,000 rpm (loaded). With the shaft horsepower, the ORC device can be used not only to spin a generator, but other devices like a pump, compressor, or PTO machinery. What is unique about the ORC process is that it can use low grade heat which can't be used to vaporize water to make steam. Using a refrigerant (which has a lower boiling point than water), we can make a pressurized medium that can be expanded through a rotary device to make power. The exiting heat can then be used for CHP (combined heat and power) applications, such as heating water, chiller, or desalination. The IT10 is currently available in the rack-mounted volts DC output option. There is also a fully-enclosed AC output option for 50hz and 60hz applications. The turbine can be ordered separately for experimental use with any pressurized media, including refrigerants, steam, air, gas, etc. Since this is an expander, it can be used to bring high pressure gas (i.e. natural gas) to a lower pressure and generate free power. Due to the nature of capturing and utilizing low grade heat, one novel application is to use the producer water or oil from oil wells (or producer water from natural gas wells) that is heated by the Earth. If you have at least 70 C producer water, oil, or gas, you can use that with a ORC device to produce free power. One of the best applications for the ORC device is capturing waste heat from a diesel engine coolant and exhaust gas. Using both these waste heat sources, you can generate another 15 percent power from the engine, as well as reduce the horsepower needed to run the engine air cooled radiator. Organic Rankine Cycle is environmentally friendly since it takes a waste heat to make power. This offsets power which is typically generated by fossil fuels, and hence, reduces our CO2 footprint.