Waste heat recovery uses supercritical CO2

GE says that the Echogen system, for which it has agreed worldwide commercial and military maritime rights, will enhance its mechanical, hybrid and all-electric propulsion system solutions.

The Echogen technology captures exhaust heat energy from gas turbines and/or diesel engines and converts it to useful power. GE adds that while the concept is not new, Echogen’s system uses supercritical CO2 (sCO2) as its working fluid, which allows for a more compact, lighter and economical configuration than traditional steam systems. The Echogen system is claimed to be able to convert significant amounts of heat energy into useful power, over a broad range of exhaust temperatures. The first sCO2 marine engine system to be tested by Echogen, in the first part of 2013, will be of 7MW power, with 2MW and 0.4MW products expected in 2016.

“This product is an important addition to GE Marine’s existing worldwide product portfolio, given fuel efficiency and emissions are very important to ship owners and operators. Converting energy that traditionally gets exhausted out of a stack into useful power allows the overall system efficiency to increase by up to 30%,” says Brien Bolsinger, vice president, marine operations, GE Marine.

“The marine market represents a tremendous application for our supercritical CO2 engine, and GE Marine is a powerful partner offering speed and scale to market,” says Phil Brennan, CEO, Echogen Power Systems. “We are pleased that our technology will enable GE Marine to provide more value to its customers, while supporting Echogen’s goal of displacing steam as the power fluid of choice for engines under 50MW in size.”