March 3, 2015
BY ÖkoFEN
A revolutionary 5 kWe cogen pellet boiler prototype system, designed and manufactured by ÖkoFEN, with Qnergy’s Stirling engine inside, was introduced to the market. The biomass boiler is still under development and the first beta installations are expected before the end of the year to serve large residential and small to medium application requirements.
The cogen pellet boiler created much interest at the The World Sustainable Energy Days in Wels, Austria, a stage to most of the major wood pellet boiler manufacturers. ÖkoFEN’s and Qnergy’s latest technology is not only economical and automated but it also delivers heat and power embodied in one platform.
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“Five kw of electricity and higher allows us to tap into new markets for cogeneration that so far have been out of our scope,” said ÖkoFEN founder and CEO Herbert Ortner. “We are hoping to commercialize the product as fast as possible; the first pilot customers are expecting to take deliveries in the near future”.
“With product life exceeding 60,000 running hours while being fuel agnostic and maintenance free, our product offers advantages no other product does,” said Erez Harel, CEO of Qnergy. “ÖkoFEN was very quick to identify these unique advantages and has been a great partner in the project development.”
How It Works
As the wood pellets are burned, heat from the burner flue gas is transferred to the head of the QB7500 external combustion Stirling engine, initiating a cyclic heating and cooling process of inert gas inside the engine. During this thermodynamic process, electricity is generated via the QB7500’s linear alternator.
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The heat then travels through the boiler to supply hot water for space heating, domestic use or for industrial and commercial process needs. This cutting edge cogeneration system generates inexpensive grid-quality electricity as a by-product of low-cost, environmentally friendly hot water production.