Oxidizer technology generates clean power from low quality or waste fuels
BIRMINGHAM, AL and DURHAM, NC – Southern Research Institute and Ener-Core, Inc. (OTCBB: ENCR) today announced that they have completed a field demonstration and performance verification of the Ener-Core FP250 PowerStation under the U.S. Dept. of Defense’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP.)
“Thermal oxidizers are commonly used for air pollution control, but they don’t convert the waste gases into power” said Alain Castro, Ener-Core chief executive officer. “This demonstration verifies that Ener-Core has successfully adapted oxidizer technology to generate clean power from low quality or waste fuels, while at the same time destroying the contaminants in the waste fuels.” The FP250 employs a specially designed gradual thermal oxidizer to power a modified conventional 250kW micro-turbine, resulting in an electric power generating solution capable of operating with low heating value fuels while producing extremely low NOx emissions.
The field demonstration, which assessed the technical and economic performance of the FP250 over a nominal one-year monitoring period, was conducted at the 1st Division Road landfill located at Ft. Benning, Ga. Southern Research acted as the independent third-party verifier. Specific demonstration objectives included verifying net power production, low emissions, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, return on investment, reliability, and operability.
The FP250 installed at Ft. Benning produced a net of 220 kilowatts of electric power using untreated, low-quality landfill gas that was approximately 25 percent methane. Nitrogen oxide emissions were less than five percent of the stringent California Air Resources Board 2013 emissions standards for distributed generation equipment.
“Economically, the FP250 was shown to be on par with competing distributed generation technologies with a levelized cost of energy of 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour,” said Tim Hansen, Southern Research’s Principal Investigator and Director, Advanced Energy and Transportation Technology. Ener-Core officials project that the levelized cost of energy will drop to below eight cents per kilowatt hour once manufacturing of the FP250 ramps up, and below 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour with the larger power-station sizes which are being rolled out.
The demonstration was funded by the U.S. Dept. of Defense’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP). The final report is published online at http://www.serdp.org/Program-Areas/Energy-and-Water/Energy/Distributed-Generation/EW-200823/EW-200823/(language)/eng-US
About Ener-Core, Inc.
Ener-Core, Inc. (“Ener-Core”) (OTCBB: ENCR) designs and manufactures innovative systems for producing continuous energy from a broad range of sources, including previously unusable ultra-low quality gas. The Ener-Core Gradual Oxidizer, our patented oxidation technology, enables the conversion of these gases into useful heat and power with the lowest known associated emissions. With the Ener-Core Gradual Oxidizer matched to gas turbines, Ener-Core offers systems with fuel flexibility and pollution control for power generation. The Gradual Oxidizer can also be customized for integration with larger existing power generation systems to offer unparalleled pollution control and achieve zero emissions.
About Southern Research Institute Pollution Control and Energy Solutions
Southern Research Institute is an international leader in the evaluation of emission reduction technologies, including air pollution measurement and control, as well as the assessment of advanced renewable and bioenergy technologies. Over the past 40 years, Southern Research has invented, designed, or developed a number of reference methods and devices now widely used in the industry, earning the Institute a reputation for excellence in particulate control research, emissions measurement, and the appraisal of advanced energy systems.
About Southern Research Institute
Southern Research Instituteis a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) scientific research organization founded in 1941 that conducts preclinical drug discovery and development, advanced engineering research in materials, systems development, and environment and energy research. Approximately 500 scientific and engineering team members support clients and partners in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, defense, aerospace, environmental and energy industries. Southern Research is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., with additional laboratories and offices in Wilsonville and Huntsville, Ala., Frederick, Md., Durham, NC, Houston, TX, and Cartersville, Ga.
