ElectraTherm Inc, a US-based developer and manufacturer of distributed, waste heat to power generation using Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology has announced that it is working with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Creare LLC, and the US Naval Academy (USNA) to demonstrate gas turbine waste heat recovery as part of a Small Business Innovation Research project. The demonstration will take place at the USNA in Annapolis, Maryland to prove the potential for waste heat recovery onboard ships.
ElectraTherm utilizes ORC and proprietary technologies to generate power from low-temperature heat ranging from 170-252°F (≈ 77-122°C). At the USNA, the Power+ will capture the waste heat from an existing helicopter turbine used to train the USNA Midshipmen, using a custom designed exhaust gas heat exchanger provided by Creare, a US-based engineering research and development company.
The 390 HP helicopter turbine’s exhaust will be converted to hot water – the fuel for the ElectraTherm ORC and the Power+ Generator will convert that exhaust into approximately 50kW of gross power. The demonstration will offer proof of concept for significant fuel savings via turbine or reciprocating engine waste heat streams aboard ships, a waste heat recovery source readily available and vastly underutilized.
This is ElectraTherm’s third project with the Department of Defense, so we have confidence in their ability to meet expectations and performance requirements. We will utilize a Power+ Generator 4400 to demonstrate waste heat recovery at this smaller scale. The technology maturity, robustness and low maintenance requirements were attractive reasons for choosing the ElectraTherm system, and we look forward to a successful demonstration with their team, said Roger Hill, the Lead Project Engineer at Creare.
Funding for the project is provided by the Office of Naval Research and the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy.
