Gulf Coast Green Energy (GCGE) is the first company to generate electricity from an internal combustion engine. Internal combustion engines (ICE) no longer need the capital expense of a radiator because the Power+ GeneratorTM cools the engine while using the heat to generate on-site power. In other words, the Power+ GeneratorTM becomes the radiator….with a payback. For a Cat 3516 this can reduce the CapX by as much as $75,000. The possibilities for capturing waste heat from such engines is staggering and provides opportunities for both production efficiency and for cost savings for a wide variety of internal combustion engine (ICE) projects.
The following is a list of possible different ICE scenarios where waste heat equipment can be installed for a cost effective solution to generate low-cost electricity:
- gasifiers
- biomass
- landfill Methane
- gas compressors
- pumping Gen Sets
- combined heat and power (CHP)
We have teamed up with a south Texas natural gas compressor company to offset the power used for the injection well at the gas well field. We are using the waste heat available in the engine jacket cooling water which cools the engine. We actually cool the engine enough to bypass the radiator. This is a real advantage in the summer for many gas compressor companies in the U.S. who have difficulty keeping their engines cool in the summer. Our technical team pioneered the method for capturing the engine cooling water. We also make power from the exhaust gas that is just going into the atmosphere.
Additional projects are in the pipeline in Texas and with the U.S. Army in Oklahoma to generate power from methane gas. We will fire a boiler in both locations with the methane gas and the hot water then will be used to generate electricity with our waste heat generator. We are Industry partners in the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program along with many private and municipal landfill owners. Just as with the gas compressor engine, we generate power from landfill Gen Sets from the jacket cooling water and exhaust gas.
Here’s How the Power+ GeneratorTM becomes the Radiator….with a Pay Back:
- Decoupling engine from cooling increases net Shaft HP to Engine – 5.4%
- Add Power+ GeneratorTM Power Output from Exhaust + JW + Gas cooling = Net HP gain – 9.0 + 7.7% = 16.7%
The Power+ GeneratorTM Cooling Effect Provides Additional Engine Horsepower by:
- Reducing jacket water (JW) loop cooling load 70 – 100% which also decreases the temperature of the low temperature inter-cooler radiator, increasing the charge air density and the effective engine power.
- ORC cooling effect on the JW and decreased inter-cooler temperature can significantly reduce the engine de-rate in high temperature ambient conditions.
