Technology

A positive displacement expander as a steam engine offer better qualities than turbo expanders at sizes below about 1-2 MW. During the last years some companies has started to look at steam engine again, because they offer superior possibility to make use different energy resources as bio fuels and solar thermal energy. Most companies has started to manufacture new versions of old classic steam engine whereas RANOTOR is working on an high performance steam engine originally aimed to be used in automotive applications, where cost/performance demand is very high. The modern steam engine operates with high pressure and shaft-speed, which gives very high specific power compared to old classic steam engine.

Fuel Flexibility

Like the Stirling engine, Small Scale Steam Power SSSP has external combustion and offers great fuel flexibility compared to internal combustion engines, gas turbines and fuel cells. SSSP is also expected to offer advantages when harnessing solar energy in solar thermal power application. The multi-fuel possibilities make it possible to use locally available energy resources (solar, bio fuel), and to realise autonomous distributed off-grid power system.

Exhaust gas and noise emission

The exhaust gas emission has a potential to be very low. Due to the absence of preheat or pre-compression of the combustion air, the combustion temperature will be lower than for other power cycles, which imply lower NOx emissions without any catalytic conversion. By coating the steam generator surfaces with an oxidation catalytic layer, other emissions such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons can be reduced in a cost effective way. The SSSP has also a potential to be very silent and vibration free and hence offer an environmentally friendly power source that can be placed close to people in mobile applications as well as in buildings.