Technology
Natural heat sources provide a potentially unlimited energy source. Efficient and cost effective conversion of these natural heat sources into electricity can provide abundant, clean and low cost energy supplies with no ongoing pollution outputs.
The Infinilec electricity generator will create abundant and cheap electricity by operating as a highly efficient thermal energy converter.
Core Principle
Natural heat sources are used to heat an enclosed volume of helium gas. The increased pressure of this gas pushes pistons in an engine having the proprietry ICUIP design. This engine uses the principles of a closed cycle regenerative heat engine. We expect that electricity generating coils will be integerated into the engine itself since it has a continual rotational motion without any reciprocating components. This will help to further reduce complexity and costs.
Engine Design Breakthrough - World First!
The Infinilec generator will feature the world's first implementation of the so far purely hypothetical Carnot cycle heat engine first proposed by Nicolas Carnot in 1824. Thermodynamic analysis of the engine's design proves it to have the features of the most efficient heat engine cycle allowed by physical laws. This means we have very significant efficiency gains over existing Stirling style heat engine designs.
Heat Engine
Readily exploitable natural heat sources include solar radiation, hot rocks or geothermal energy and even the heat from biological processes consuming waste material (biomass). Other solar thermal generators have already proven to be able to create electricity very efficiently.
Using a heat exchange system on a closed volume of gas is heated by an external natural heat source.
Heated gases are used because they can be recycled, have low inertia, readily absorb heat and flow easily in the engine. Very low temperature differences can be used so that these generators can run at night using stored thermal energy.
Helium is the gas of choice in our engines because it has very low viscosity, high thermal conductivity, and high specific heat. This gas is also non-toxic and safe to use.
By absorbing heat the gas then increases its pressure which is then converted into work which in turn produces electricity through rotational motion.