USA • COGENERATION The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Capstone Turbine Corp a $3 million grant to research, develop and test packaged cooling, heating and power systems for buildings. The goal of the project is to focus on integration of distributed power generation, thermal recovery and thermally activated cooling and humidity control technologies.
According to the DOE around 66 per cent of fuel energy in the USA is wasted as discarded heat. The development of distributed energy resources utilising power generation, heating and cooling systems integrated into a single system could improve efficiency levels by 70 per cent or more.
Capstone manufactures micro turbines which are already used in combined heat and power applications. The award will allow the company to continue to develop and optimise the technologies, making them available for a wider range of applications.
Twelve months ago Capstone received a $10 million DOE award for a five year programme to develop an advanced micro turbine system producing around 150-200 kW with a fuel efficiency of 40 per cent and emissions of less than 7 parts per million of nitrogen oxides.
