Power Generation:


This drawing is an example of a combination of the SENREQ system and power production capabilities, whether it be thermal oil, steam turbine, ORC System, or another form.  Cooling for the condenser can be from a cooling tower, air (with air-water condenser), or from river water.

Power Generation:
The thermal energy generated by the SENREQ process may be recovered from the exhaust gas through the use Waste Heat Boiler (WHB). A WHB system is a heat exchanger system that uses waste heat to heat a medium, whether water, steam, thermal oil, etc.

Small SENREQ systems (less then 10 tons* per day (tpd)) would operate using a single primary with the gas being produced for approximately 12-14 hours per 24 hour period. This energy could be used via a WHB for hydroponics systems, greenhouses, municipal buildings, factories, or any process currently using fossil fuels for heat.

Larger scale systems are designed to use 3 or more primaries that are engaged in sequence to deliver the Btu rich gas continuously over a 24-hour period. This non-interrupted supply of fuel can power steam or thermal oil turbines and produce electricity for use in-house or for distribution through the local power grid.

Power generation in the mid-sized systems, ranging from 15 tpd* to 100 tpd*, utilize Organic Rankine Cycle power generation technology. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) process is especially suitable for using waste heat to generate electricity at extremely varied temperatures. Using ORC media at low boiling conditions also allows temperature sources with low temperatures such as industrial waste heat or exhaust-gas heat from combustion engines to be used for generating electricity.

ORC technology is similar to traditional steam technology; however, instead of using water, an organic medium is evaporated at low boiling conditions. As in conventional steam technology, the steam is also released into a steam turbine and a generator is powered to generate electricity. However, the steam pressure is considerably lower and, therefore, does not require the use of expensive high-pressure technology.

Due to the thermodynamic characteristics of the used media, the partial load capability of ORC plants is superior and the plant’s efficiency achieves higher values than those of comparable steam plants. This provides numerous advantages which make ORC technology unbeatable in power ranges below 2 MW(el).

The SENREQ process has minimal power consumption in comparison to the amount of power that can be generated; however, the conversion of thermal energy to electrical energy requires a substantial amount of energy which affects the performance efficiency of the power generation technology. More thermal energy translates to better generation performance. If we have 5MW of thermal energy, we can expect a generation performance efficiency of 17%, or 850kW(el). With 20MW of thermal energy, we can expect a generation performance efficiency of 27%, or 5.4 MW(el).

For Example:
100 tons* of MSW = 8.2 MW of thermal energy per hour, based on 4500 (MSW average) btu/lb.

We can assume the generation efficiency to be ~20%; therefore, the electrical output would be 1.63 MW/h of electrical power.  Using an average electrical power consumption rate of $0.10 per kW(el), then the 100 tons* of MSW a day is equal to $3,912 per day in recovered electricity that can be used or sold back to the grid at a discounted rate.


* - tons refers to US Short tons equaling 2000 pounds or 0.9 metric tons