PERENIAL POWER SOLUTIONS

PRODUCING POWER USING STIRLING ENGINES BY TAPPING HEAT FROM THE CONDENSER OF POWER PLANTS
Akshat Agarwal[1], Aman Goel[2],Abhimanyu Kohli[3],Nitin Sharma[4]
[1][2]: Department of Mechanical Engineering, SRM University. [3]: Department of Aerospace Engineering, SRM University. [4]: Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, SRM University.

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ABSTRACT
Mankind is racing towards development at a very rapid pace by blindly using natures valuable resources of energy. As a result, energy resources like coal and petroleum have been predicted to last only up to 2060 if used continuously at the present rate. Thus we engineers are faced with a challenge of developing systems whose operation does not affect the environment at all (i.e., zero emission) and systems which rely the least on the environment. Our idea will operate in making the society spic and span. It will not only help in overcoming the pollution caused by thermal power plants but also help in augmenting the profits of the power plants. It will be a great boost in the direction of mitigating the energy crisis. Our organisation will provide a product i.e. Stirling Engine along with auxiliary components which has an efficiency up to 80%. It will also provide succour in making the best possible utilisation of waste heat. It will help in making the industry self dependent by providing surplus of electricity. Our product will help in solving the issues like shortage of electricity, global warming, waste heat management and ecological balance in aquatic ecosystem. This can be illustrated by an empirical data i.e. when 100% fuel input is feed to the thermal power plants powered by conventional technology 40% useful energy is produced for electricity and 60% waste heat is rejected to the environment. In contrast 100% fuel input to thermal power plants installed with Stirling Engine provides 40%useful energy used for the production of electricity and out of the remaining 60%, 40%is used by Stirling engine to produce electricity and 10% of flue gas heat is used by economiser to preheat the boiler feed and only 10% of heat in the form of flue gas is rejected to the environment through catalytic converter (thereby removing suspended particulate matter in the process).

Our idea is unique because it qualifies for tapping waste energy, which is available in plenty in the power plants condenser tube carrying hot fluid away from it (and also from flue gases coming from the boiler) which was previously inaccessible and therefore directly released into the atmosphere. Secondly, it has strong economic practicality. Above all, the original cost is quite lower than for any other engines. Thirdly, even a few calories can drive and keep it running. Fourthly, it is consistent with the requirement of sustainable development. Thus, our idea of using Stirling Engine in thermal power plant is the main development way in the future. So, the Stirling Engine doesnt only meet the economic needs at present time but also in future. We expect that the complication can arise in terms of size and cost, the material used at expansion side of the heat exchanger must resist the corrosive effects of the heat source and have low creep. Secondly, large size radiators are required to keep the coolant temperature as low as possible to maximize thermal efficiency. In terms of power and torque, Stirling Engine cant start instantaneously and output power tends to be constant. It will impact society directly by meeting its growing electricity demands without increasing the input energy requirements. It will also considerably reduce the exhaust emission thereby reducing undesirable environmental pollution. Our idea is best in the class because it has efficiency higher than any other engine available in the market and also has zero emission. It is unique because there is no power plant presently that is using the sterling engine to enhance its power production capacity.

MARKET SIZE AND TIME TO MARKET

Stirling Engines of such high capacity have not been fabricated so far because of the costs involved. But today if we measure cost and adverse effects of technology on the environment, there would be many companies as well as government organisations that would be willing to invest a hefty amount in creating technology that would reduce the impact of energy production on the environment. Firstly since such a technology would be completely new, it might take some time for society to readily accept it. Therefore, delaying the time of impact. Therefore, only after around 2 years, we will be in a position to estimate the timeframe for its complete acceptance in improving power plant technology. We plan to reduce the time frame of impact by popularising this technology by conducting various seminars and exposing the world to the benefits of this new innovation.

THE TEAM
We bring immense pleasure in bringing an innovative element in designing this project. I Nitin Sharma had tried to optimize the cost of thermal power plant by efficiently utilising flue gas in economiser. In the wake of project designing I have undergone many journals regarding power plants and try to mitigate the technical flaws by devising the cost effective solution to it. I Aman Goel did my work in technical field and came out with the idea of our project. I did a lot of search in the technical aspect in bringing out this innovative idea.

I Abhimanyu Kohli came out with the idea of using duct burners in the proposed system and pointed out the main differences in case of using the steam turbine or Stitrling Engine. I Akshat Agarwal contribute to the team in the design of the system and application of principles of engineering in improving the system by eco friendly methods. My interests are in the field of green engineering. Yes, we can recruit more people in designing the market strategy and to meet other technical expertisation as required.

FINANCIAL MODEL
We at this stage cannot approximate the cost of a Stirling engine because these have not been fabricated till date on such large scales. But, no matter how high the initial investment is, the investment would be worth it since post Installation, there would be no further maintenance costs involved if placed in the proper conditions and also, there would be no effect on the environment caused due to the working of the engine. Our target customers will be the large scale organising units which constantly face energy crisis like BHEL, NTPC, ONGC, Automobile Industries, Cane Industry and many more. We can also get the payback by selling the electricity to government which helps in pumping more dough to meet our expenses. Our other sources of revenue will be Venture Capital Associations like ICICI, SIDBI and can also expect subsidy from the government on account of ecofriendly technology. As risks are always associated with new technology, so in order to mitigate this problem we will first implement it as a pilot project on small scale industry before implementing it on a large scale. Secondly, we will carry out KAIZEN work i.e., why why analysis periodically to rectify the shortcomings.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Overview of the project

Working of power plant in synchronization with the proposed system

The detailed schematic of the proposed system