Maxim Glushenkov

Encontech B.V.

Isobaric expansion (IE) engines are a very uncommon type of heat-to-mechanical-power converters, radically different from all well-known heat engines. Useful work is extracted during an isobaric expansion process, i.e., without a polytropic gas/vapour expansion accompanied by a pressure decrease typical of state-of-the-art piston engines, turbines,...

Isobaric expansion (IE) engines can directly convert heat into mechanical energy, making them particularly attractive for applications such as vapor-driven pumps and compressors. A recent initial assessment investigating the utilization of IE engines as vapor-driven reciprocating compressors has revealed that the vapor use efficiency is inherently...

Die Wirtschaftlichkeit von Wärmemotoren wird maßgeblich durch die Rückführung von Wärme in Rekuperatoren beeinflusst. Beim isobaren Expansionsmotor vom Bush‐Typ, einem Wärmemotor, der bereits mit Wärmequellen ab 60 °C betrieben werden kann, steigt der thermische Wirkungsgrad durch den Einsatz von Rekuperatoren signifikant. Gleichzeitig wirken sich...

Currently, there is no commercially available technology for low temperature (below 100°C) heat conversion into mechanical or electrical energy. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a typical technology for low temperature applications. However, ORC plants are rather complex and not economically sound for small-scale applications (<500kW). The isobar...

Economic expedience of waste heat recovery systems (WHRS), especially for low temperature difference applications, is often questionable due to high capital investments and long pay-back periods. With a simple design, isobaric expansion (IE) machines could provide a viable pathway to utilizing otherwise unprofitable waste heat streams for power gen...

Isobaric expansion (IE) technology is a promising solution for mini- and medium-scale low-grade heat utilization. IE engines directly convert heat to mechanical energy and are particularly interesting as direct-acting, vapor-driven pumps and compressors. The elimination of multiple energy transformations, technical simplicity and the ability to use...

Economic expedience of waste heat recovery systems (WHRS), especially for low temperature difference applications, is often questionable due to high capital investments and long pay-back periods. By its simple design isobaric expansion (IE) machines could provide a viable pathway to utilize otherwise unprofitable waste heat streams for power genera...

This paper presents the developed isobaric expansion engine and preliminary measurements made with the engine operating as a pump, as well as a comparison of the experimental results with a thermodynamic model. Experiments were carried out at heat source temperature in the range 30 – 90 oC and heat sink temperature around 11 oC; refrigerant R134a w...

Pulsed compression is introduced for the conversion of methane, by pyrolysis, into ethylene. At the point of maximal compression temperatures of 900 to 1620 K were reached, while the initial and final temperature of the gas did not exceed 523 K. By the use of a free piston reactor concept pressures of up to 460 bar were measured with nitrogen as a...

Heat regeneration is important in numerous heat engines and energy-intensive processes. The theoretical analysis of this non-steady-state process becomes highly complicated when working fluid properties change significantly, as in processes with the phase change of a working fluid or near its critical point. Usually, simplifying assumptions are mad...

Around 17% of the global generated energy is consumed for residential, commercial, and transportation refrigeration. The current cooling technologies utilize refrigerants with high Ozone Depletion and Global Warming Potentials. Furthermore, the current technologies are expensive alongside with toxicity and flammability hazards. On the other side, e...

About 72 % of the global primary energy consumption is lost after conversion into the final energy service, mostly (63%) in form of waste heat with temperature below 100 0C. The available technologies for conversion of waste heat as well as heat originated from sustainable energy sources into usable energy are not economic and new solutions for the...

The recently proposed idea of displacer-type heat engines with dense working fluids revived the long-known concept of isobaric expansion (IE). Capable of overcoming some of the most severe disadvantages of gas-phase displacer-type heat engines and state-of-the art ORC plants, these engines offer a solution for future heat-to-power conversion and he...

An innovative, efficient and economic ThermoMechanical Refrigeration system (TMR) has been thermodynamically investigated. The system is able to use low grade heat, derived from any heat source (waste heat, geothermal, solar, etc.), of temperatures as low as 80⁰C for cooling to as low temperatures to -10⁰C. The mechanical compression in the Vapor...

A Thermo-Mechanical Refrigeration (TMR) system driven by low-grade thermal energy. Using a dense working fluid, the system can replace the electricity driven compressor in the vapor compression refrigeration system (VCRS).

About 72 % of the global primary energy consumption is lost after conversion into the final energy service, mostly (63%) in form of waste heat with temperature below 100⁰C. The available technologies for conversion of waste heat as well as heat originated from sustainable energy sources into usable energy are not economic and new solutions for the...

To overcome the lack of economic technologies for conversion of low-grade heat into power, Dutch company Encontech B.V. has recently suggested a novel-type external combustion engine. This Encontech Engine utilizing dense working fluids promises effective energy conversion and large power density at low specific cost. In the study presented in this...

No abstract is available for this article.

Current desalination techniques are typically very energy intensive: energy consumption can account for up to 70% of the desalination costs. To improve economics of water desalination plants innovative energy efficient, inexpensive, water pump powered by heat is proposed. The technology is an alternative to the reverse osmosis water desalination pr...

Novel energy efficient chemical reactor technology is proposed. High pressure and temperature are generated by means of rapid compressive heating of gases by liquids with the following rapid cooling during the expansion stage. The compression-expansion of gas bubbles was studied experimentally in a reactor utilizing the principle of hydraulic ram p...

A crucial aspect of the practical realisation of thermodynamic cycles for power generation (e.g., Joule, Rankine, Stirling) relates to the heat transfer processes from a source of heat (almost invariably from the combustion of fossil fuels) into the working fluid during the heat addition stage of the cycle. The direct combustion of hydrocarbons and...

The concept of using rapid adiabatic compression-expansion for doing chemical reactions promises to be an energy efficient alternative to conventional chemical reactors. In this article, the production of synthesis gas by steam methane reforming using the rapid adiabatic compression-expansion principle is investigated. This was done experimentally...

The Pulsed Compression Reactor (PCR) promises to be a compact, economical and energy efficient alternative to conventional chemical reactors. In this article, the production of synthesis gas using the Pulsed Compression Reactor is investigated. This is done experimentally as well as with simulations. The experiments are done by means of a single sh...

The pulsed compression reactor promises to be a compact, economical and energy efficient alternative to conventional chemical reactors. While its design and operation is similar to that of a free piston internal combustion engine, it does not benefit from any controllability through the load. Experimental data and simulation results are presented i...

The newly invented pulsed compression reactor functions similarly to an internal combustion (IC) engine, but unlike the IC, it does not suffer the IC's limitations. While peak temperatures are in the order of 1500–5000K, and peak pressures in the order of 100–2000bar, the average temperature and pressure of the reaction zones are much lower. The pi...

The Pulsed Compression Reactor promises to be a compact, economical and energy efficient alternative to conventional chemical reactors. In this article, the production of synthesis gas using the Pulsed Compression Reactor is investigated. This is done experimentally as well as with simulations. The experiments are done by means of a single shot rea...

Analytic review of investigations of electric conductivity kinetics for hydrocarbon solutions of antistatic additives, dependence of electric conductivity of the solutions on the solvent viscosity, influence of dielectric permittivity of the solvent on the solution electric conductivity, influence of temperature on electric conductivity of antistat...