Prototype External Combustion Engine Converts Waste Oil to Power
Click to enlarge 01 October 2012 Pompano Beach, Florida based Cyclone Power Technologies (OTCQB: CYPW), the developer of the Cyclone Engine, and waste energy power generator developer, Phoenix Power Group have integrated their technologies to create the Phoenix-10 Waste Oil Co-Generator. According to Cyclone, the integrated unit utilises Phoenix's proprietary waste oil combustion chamber/heat exchanger (CCHX) with Cyclone's Waste Heat Engine, the WHE-25. The company said that initial steam performance tests were successful, producing approximately half of maximum rated power output - a goal set by the team to provide a benchmark for system optimisation. The developers claimed that the integrated Phoenix-10 Waste Oil Co-Generator - or P-10 - is a combined heat and power (CHP) system that is capable of utilising used motor oil to produce electricity and reduce both energy and heating requirements for garages, car dealerships and similar facilities. The Cyclone Engine The developer describes the operation the external combustion Cyclone Engine as follows (numbers and letters relates to image - click to enlarge): 1. Fuel is atomised and injected into the patented centrifugal combustion chamber, where a spark ignites the fuel-air mixture into a flame that spins around the heat coils. 2. Water contained in the coils becomes super-heated steam of up to 1200 degrees F (650 degrees C) in as little as 5 seconds from start up which is piped to the cylinders, and enters through a patent-pending valve system with timing mechanisms regulating how much steam enters the cylinders. Mechanical process 3. Steam enters the six radial-configured cylinders under pressures up to 3200 psi to push the pistons down in sequence. 4. The rotating action of the pistons connected through a patent-pending spider bearing turns the crank shaft. Cyclone added that because the greatest amount of torque occurs at the first rotation, the shaft can be directly connected to a drive train without a transmission. Cooling 5. Steam escapes the cylinders through exhaust ports and ( a) enters the patent-pending condensing unit where it turns back into water, and ( b) collects in a sealed pan at the bottom of the condenser. The engine is a closed-loop system and water does not need to be replaced or topped-off. 6. Blowers spin fresh air around the condenser to speed the cooling process. Regenerative process 7. ( a) Air which has been pre-heated from the condensing unit, ( b) continues up to a second heat exchanger located in the exhaust port of the combustion chamber, further pre-heating the air used for combustion while also cooling the exhaust fumes to about 320 degrees F (160 degrees C). 8. A high pressure pump (not pictured) pipes water from the collecting pan to the heat coils ( a) via heat exchangers surrounding each of the cylinders (only one pictured), and then ( b) to the centre of the coils to start the heat cycle again. On-site waste oil to energy According to the developer, by utilising the Cyclone WHE-25 external combustion engine, each P-10 system is designed to produce up to 7 kW of grid-tied electricity and off-set the use of fuel oil for space heating requirements by using less expensive waste fuels. "A beta product launch for next year looks extremely promising," said Thomas Thillen, Phoenix's president, Travis Love, Cyclone WHE project leader, added: "This is an important technological milestone which we believe will allow us to proceed into system optimisation and component hardening on a much more rapid basis". We look forward to continuing our work with Phoenix towards the shared goal of getting a quality product to market as soon as possible.' A video of the P-10's initial integrated test run can be seen below: Read More Size Really Does Matter - Is Small Really Beautiful in the World of WTE? The continuing issues surrounding landfill and the general publicâs aversion to the erection of large treatment plants is cultivating the idea of a new breed of small scale waste-to-energy plants, as Jane Kinsley reports EWS Supplies Mobile Waste Incineration to Canadian Military Ontario, Canada based advanced thermal treatment technology developer, Eco Waste Solutions (EWS), has been awarded a contract with the Canadian Department of National Defense for a mobile waste incineration system. On-Site Gasification of Offensive Waste With the cost of collecting and treating offensive/hygiene waste continuing to rise for nursing and care homes PyroPure has developed a small scale system that uses both pyrolysis and gasification to recover energy from biowastes. Residues from the freezer sized machine are flushed into the sewage system. WMW takes a look at the technology. Ben Messenger investigates. Free Magazine Subscription Free Email Newsletter
