Appliance Design - March 2008 - (Page 19)

POWER module, which forms the heart of the CHP unit, he says. In the current CHP design, intended for European applications, the heat is coupled into hot water or central heating via a heat exchanger. The CHP unit is designed to provide approximately 80 to 90 percent of the power required by a typical home during the course of the year. It is a hydronic unit, but with modification, it could equally well be used for warm air applications, says Flint. “Unlike an internal combustion engine or with a burner, this solid-state process is highly efficient, environmentally friendly, and quiet,” he says. “The metal-supported SOFC technology and its operating temperature range provide the basis for a range of attractive commercial applications. Eric Guyer, president of Climate Energy, Medfield, Mass., may disagree with the idea that internal combustion engines are loud. The company also produces a micro CHP system, but one that uses a natural-gas-powered, internal combustion engine to generate electricity instead of a fuel cell. Guyer says that the company’s freewatt, warm-air CHP system generates electricity and heat with less noise than a typical warm air furnace – 47 dB(A) at 3 feet. This sound level is as quiet or quieter than a new refrigerator, he says. Climate Energy began selling its freewatt CHP warm-air system with internal combustion engine in the U.S. market in April 2007. While the technology is fairly new to the U.S., Honda Corp. has sold roughly 50,000 of these units in Japan. The freewatt features a MCHP engine from America Honda Motor Corp. and furnace or boiler technology from Climate Energy. Essentially, the freewatt couples two established technologies into one novel appliance. Climate Energy is not the most sophisticated of the technologies on the market, and that is by design. Guyer says the biggest advantage this system has is its practicality, especially when compared to fuel cell technology. Engine technology is infinitely simpler and has more than 100 years of technology development behind it, he says. Capturing waste heat from fuel cells favors hydronic heating systems, which predominate in the U.K. and Europe. The Climate Energy system can be effectively used in forced air systems that dominate the U.S. market. The device, says Guyer, is meant to be a low-cost, easy-toinstall, highly efficient technology that utilizes proven combustion engine and HVAC/R component technology. This is opposed to fuel cell technology, which in some respects is still developmental. He calls this a plug-and-play solution that requires little in the way of additional installation in the home. The system has five main components: 1. A Honda natural gas, singlecylinder, internal combustion engine. 2. A Honda electricity generator that utilizes Honda’s sine wave inverter technology to convert the power to standard 60 Hz. 3. A natural-gas-fired, 93 percent AFUE, warm-air furnace that uses an electronically commutated blower motor to provide variable-speed blower operation. 4. A Cogen Heat module that circulates coolant from the engine to an air coil to capture and utilize waste heat from the engine. 5. A supervisory control system that uses data from the communicating thermostat, an outdoor temperature sensor, and digital data collected from the MCHP. The freewatt has a two-stage heating system. When the outside temperature is only mildly cool, the home can be heated by a Cogen module alone, with heat taken from the engine. When the outside temperature drops, then the furnace kicks in. Electric power is generated in both stages. The freewatt system produces 12,000 BTU/H of heat and 1.2 kW of electrical power. Over a year, the unit will generate about half the power needed for a typical American home, which typically requires 8,000 to 10,000 kW/hrs per year. Guyer says total system efficiency is between 85 to 95 percent. Currently, Climate Energy is only producing a warm-air system, which makes sense in that 90 percent of American homes are fitted with forced-air technology. However, the company is looking to release a hydronic version in 2008 whereby the furnace component would be replaced by a boiler. This version would be targeted to the 10 percent of U.S. homeowners who have hydronic heating systems. The units sold in Japan are all hydronic. Guyer expects U.S. sales to grow, especially as the technology, simplicity and its ease of installation becomes more widely known. Another micro CHP developer, Energetix Genlec Ltd., a subsidiary of Energetix Group plc of the U.K., has a similar focus on methods that are tried and true. While based on a completely different technology than is offered by Climate Energy, the Energetix Genlec micro CHP also takes the practical approach of using prov- Fold-In AC US/CAN/ASIA Europe Australia • Approvals per UL-1-2601; IEC 60601-1, globally • Slide-on External AC Plugs for Euro/UK/Australia • Fold-in AC Blades on Case for use in USA/Canada/Asia • 34 Models, 100 to 240 VAC, @ 50-60Hz, 0.3 to 0.45A U.K. • Wall Mount, Single Output 100% Burn-in • Doubles as a Universal Charger • Optional Output Connectors Available Ventronics, Inc., 346 Monroe Ave., Kenilworth, NJ 07033 Tel: (908) 272-9262 • Fax: (908) 272-7630 • e-mail: ventronics@prodigy.net For more Information Enter 104 www.applianceDESIGN.com AD03081Vent.indd 1 applianceDESIGN March 2008 19 2/13/08 11:01:14 AM http://www.ventronicsinc.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Appliance Design - March 2008

Appliance Design - March 2008 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch A New Appliance is Set to Break into Homes Soon - the Micro CHP Unit, which Generate both Heat and Power. Thermally Enhanced Varistors Help Protect Low-Power Systems Against Damage Caused by Over-Current, Over-Temperature and Over-Voltage Faults. Hybrid Controller Reduces Standby Power Consumption and Improves Active-Mode Efficiency. Battery-Management ICs Solve Design Challenges for Cordless Appliances Using High-Voltage, Lithium-Ion Battery Technology. A Semiconductor Solution Protects the Relay in a Temperature Controller for a Cooking Appliance. New Polyurethane Foam Insulation System Optimizes both Insulation Performance and Productivity. Innovations in Decorative, Pre-Finished Metals Expand Range of Design Options for Appliance Designers. Design Marts Association Report: AHAM Advertiser's Index

Appliance Design - March 2008

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