A page from Wood Fuel – Wales on electricity generation includes the following cogeneration technologies:
- Steam, in the form of turbines or engines
- Organic Rankine Cycle
- Stirling Engines
- Hot air microturbines
While I am intrigued by the idea of running a Capstone microturbine or other “wind” turbine with superheated air, this post is a follow-up on the idea of using a pellet furnace for heating and to provide heat to power a Stirling engine, which, in turn, powers a generator.
The home units previously mentioned have run on natural gas or biogas. Nonetheless, Wood Fuels – Wales states, “Units are becoming commercially available in the low power ranges from 35 to 300 kWe with electrical efficiencies of 20% or more.”
So, if you want to be as hot as Darryl Hannah, find a micro chp engineer, who can equip that cabin in the woods with a pellet-fired Stirling power station (Tiny URL).
BTW: Nothing says that such technology must be off grid. Capstone Microturbine installation include some sophisticated electronics to enable the system to be primary with backup from the Grid or vice versa; and, the installers ensure that the system will meet the requirements of the local utility company for a “grid tie”. Nevertheless, it would be a good idea to investigate the steps for local approval and / or employ the services of a consultant, before investing in micro power generation, especially if you plan on becoming a part of a local distributed power network and sell excess power.
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The Stirling power station link takes us to a german “Circular Knitting Machines” manufacturer. Is this a new sideline business for them?
How about this, Coleman has a stirling powered cooler. Doesn’t look like you can back it up to your campstove for alternative power…
An Associated Press story tell us that there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than in any time in the past 650,000 years. “Scientists are looking back to a time when ‘greenhouse gases’ were not the problem they are today, and it is giving them a clearer picture of how people are making it worse.”
The Energy Blog has a post about STM Power “Stirling cycle generators that produce electricity from almost any form of heat or fuel: waste gases from landfills or sewage treatment plants, biomass, solar energy and paint fumes.” I am unaware if the company makes a Stirling engine that works with a pellet stove. One might assume so since a version works from an external heat source and the post also mentions biomass as does this US Stove.
Thanks for the “heads up” on the link, I edited it so that the link goes to a report specifically addressing the application instead of the main link for the company. Indeed, they do make knitting machines. I appreciate your consideration.
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[...] This information converges with three previous themes: 1) my being intrigued by the idea of driving a microturbine with superheated air, 2) the “intermittency issue” and 3) growth of wind power in the US. I would imagine it possible to scale CAES (Compressed Air Energy Storage) to micro power generation that involved renewable, albeit intermittent, sources of energy, e.g., PV, wind, and wave. [...]
[...] A very current means of micro power generation is with a gas turbine. On the other hand, co-generation, not always — but often, especially with small systems, is of a hybrid form, for example, the recently mentioned burning of biomass to provide heat and power a Stirling engine that generated electricity. [...]
[...] While Zero Energy Homes focus on solar thermal and solar electric systems, micro CHP is a way that a residence might achieve sustainability. NREL also conducts research into two other forms of renewable energy: biomass and hydrogen (fuel cells). [...]