About Us
Ener-G-Rotors is commercializing devices based on a near frictionless gerotor expander that turns low temperature heat into electricity, opening up a new market in waste heat utilization and changing the technology landscape for solar thermal and geothermal installations. Our customers can now efficiently recover some of the estimated 15 quadrillion BTUs of low grade waste heat generated in the US by combined heat and power plants, industrial processes, and commercial buildings. In many cases, the payback on these investments is less than two or three years. Our proven, patented technology may also significantly change the solar thermal and geothermal marketplaces by allowing smaller scale production of electricity at low temperatures. Our systems are the most efficient, cost effective and durable way to convert low temperature heat (<400°F) into electricity, in contrast to a number of technologies that only use higher temperature heat (>400°F). Between our working 5kW product and our 50kW product in development, our sales opportunities in the US total $26 billion and those opportunities are growing at more than $150MM a year.
Energytechstocks.com has named Ener-G-Rotors one of the top ten private energy companies to watch in 2009, Ener-G-Rotors was named the Most Promising Technology at the Cleantech Forum XXI in San Francisco, and was recently selected as a finalist in the World Technology Awards in Energy.
Our Products
Ener-G-Rotors is commercializing a "drop-in" appliance that takes 150°-400°F hot water or steam as an input to produce electricity. We have proven the technology with a number of 5kW systems running on both steam and hot water. The 50kW system we are designing represents our next step in providing a number of different solutions for converting low temperature heat into electricity.
- Energy efficient - Our expander has very little friction, which translates into increased efficiency. That increase in efficiency means our technology creates a low temperature heat market where there is little competition.
- Economical - The TGE is cost effective to manufacture and maintain, and allows use of smaller, less expensive heat exchangers. In most cases, there is less than a two or three year payback to customers paying as little as 6¢/kWh.
- With a 24 Sq ft base, the Ener-G-Rotors appliance can be located close to the low energy waste heat stream.
- Durable - The TGE is designed with no sliding contacts and few moving parts, resulting in a long lived, reliable, low maintenance expander.
- Non-disruptive - With only four hoses and a wire to connect, the Ener-G-rotors system does not affect the manufacturing process.
Our Technology
The enabling technology behind our products is the patented Trochoidal Gear Engine™ (TGE™) which is used as an expander in an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). The low friction and simple design of the TGE makes it the most efficient, durable, and cost effective expander for ORC at low temperatures (150°F to 400°F) and small sizes (<200kW).
The TGE™ itself is a positive displacement device, a modified gerotor that significantly lowers frictional losses. This reduction in friction has two benefits: (1) higher efficiency in turning heat into work, and (2) less gear wear which lowers maintenance costs. This improvement in efficiency does not come at the cost of added complexity however. The design of the TGE™ is still very simple with only two moving parts. The efficiency of the engine allows us to keep our costs low and create cost-effective systems as small at half a kilowatt or as large as 150kW.
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