CSIRO's Energy Sector plans to establish a Centre for Distributed Energy and Power that will focus on research and development and marketing to support smaller, localised energy systems � systems that could slash Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by more than half.

The systems, incorporating fuel cells, gas micro-turbines and renewable energy technologies, could range from multi-megawatt capacity that serve major industrial complexes down to the 10 kW capacity for individual households.

"This form of energy supply is strengthening worldwide and is now impacting on Australia," says Dr John Wright, Chief of CSIRO Energy Technology.

"Gas and solar hot water heaters are an accepted part of our homes. Why not a small gas powered fuel cell or micro-turbine that could cleanly and silently provide a family's entire electricity, heating and cooling needs on demand," he says.

While the most common fuel used in distributed systems is natural gas, the technologies involved lend themselves to greater use of renewable energy, such as solar and biomass.

"It is the combination of high reliability and low emissions that makes distributed energy so attractive," says Dr Wright.

Large coal-fired power stations have underpinned the growth of the Australian economy over the last 50 years. Such generators, however, have relatively low thermal efficiency � around 35% - and 8% of this can be lost along the miles of power lines.

"Modern power generation technologies can now be located close to the user allowing high fuel efficiency that can approach 90% in some cases," says Dr Wright.

"Distributed energy systems that provide electricity and heat have the potential to cut greenhouse emissions by well over half.

"The key is to get the most appropriate 'mix and match' energy system in place to meet the customer's needs.

"Often, but not always, that comes down to what is the cheapest option. A telecommunication or computer centre, for example, wants high power quality and stability- absolutely no blackouts. A local government in a regional area may want to make use of a local fuel resource such as waste gas from the municipal dump and lead the way in the use of wind or solar energy. A hospital may want a system that delivers electricity, heat and cooling � a tri-generation system.

"In many ways, the move to distributed generation mirrors that of computers, which were originally large, expensive, inflexible, centralised facilities. New technology put small computers where people worked and created whole new industries. Distributed generation has the potential to do the same for the power industry," he says.

The Centre will build on CSIRO's existing work in fuel cells, energy storage, solar/fossil hybrid systems, wind modelling techniques, gas technologies and network modeling. But the emphasis will be to bring in industry partners and other research groups to provide complete solutions.

"We see a strong role for Australian industry in the development of software and communications systems for distributed power, as well as power electronics, safety and interface systems," says Dr Wright.

The activities of the Centre will be an integral part of CSIRO Energy Technology's new headquarters in Newcastle, but projects will be located on other CSIRO and industry sites, dependent on industry and government interest.

Pulsing with clean energy
In a related development the CSIRO has developed a clean, low energy combustion technology - the New Generation Pulse Combustion (NGPC) - and cemented its market potential with new commercial contracts.

The contracts to develop NGPC are for a range of applications from power generation to petrochemical liquid heating.

NGPC relies on sound waves to produce energy significantly more efficiently than conventional systems and with exhaust and gas emissions way below the strictest environmental standards.

Two major contracts have been announced.

Perth based company PCT Ltd has contracted with CSIRO to develop Pulse Combustion Technology for steam and power generation. A 500kw pulse combustion boiler unit is currently being built at CSIRO Thermal & Fluids Engineering Laboratory and results will be available by early February 2001. Stage 2 of this process will be to build a 10MW unit at a site chosen by PCT Ltd.

CSIRO has also entered into a contract with an Australian-based company to develop NGPC to convert gas from municipal waste to electricity.

Negotiations are currently underway with 15 other local and overseas companies for further applications of this technology including:

• Commercial water heating
• Petrochemical refinery heating applications
• Food Ovens
• Rotary Kilns.

There is also immediate potential in the following areas:

the steel and smelting industry to drive foundries; domestic and commercial refrigerators for cooling; downstream ore processing in the mining industry; the food industry where spray drying is used for making skim milk products; boilers in hospitals and other buildings. Dr Dilip Manuel, the CSIRO Business Development Manager responsible for marketing CSIRO's pulse combustion says its promise to reduce energy consumption is now becoming a commercial reality.

CSIRO's NGPC produces a much more intense and cleaner flame by a 'natural' recirculation of unburnt exhaust gases created by its pulsing effect. Produced by sound waves, the pulsing effect also reduces noxious emissions to levels far below the strictest environmental standards.

NGPC's resonant driving locks the combustion instability into a very stable repetitive pattern where the burner becomes self-aspirating and there is no need for a fan to continuously supply the combustion air.

The result is significantly greater heat production than in conventional systems and exhaust gas emissions become amongst the cleanest in the world. Zero levels of total hydrocarbon (THC) and carbon monoxide (CO) are attainable.

"Equipment also tends to be self-cleaning throughout the life of the plant as a result of the micro-vibrations that are generated, and by operating each pulse combustor out of phase with its partner, sound levels are much lower than for many industrial burners currently in use," says Dr Manuel.

The obstacle to commercially viable pulse combustion worldwide has been that, until now, no-one could find a way to keep a pulsing flame burning at low levels where pulse combustion offers both great heat output and reduced energy consumption.

Past attempts have only managed to turn the burning rate down 10%. CSIRO's NGPC has achieved rates of 60% - an amount that makes pulse combustion an extremely attractive proposition for industry

The secret behind a practical pulse combustor is its specially designed heating chamber. "CSIRO is the first to have found a way to scale up the laboratory pulse combustor into a variety of commercial sized processing facilities and our clients have been excited by the prototypes we have developed for them so far," says Dr Manuel.

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