Libertine waste heat recovery unit

Libertine is developing novel power generation technology with the potential to substantially improve the efficiency of heavy goods vehicles by recovery of exhaust waste heat to permit engine downsizing and/or serve auxiliary power loads. Further automotive applications in heat recovery and low carbon power generation are anticipated. At the heart of Libertine’s technology is an innovative linear expander-generator which integrates a low friction free piston mover with a high efficiency linear generator. In the first automotive application, this expander-generator will be incorporated into small scale (15-30kWe) waste heat recovery systems converting 10-20% of waste heat to power. Nidec SR Drive will contribute to the program with the development of a linear switched reluctance generator and associated controls that will be evaluated in a test cell environment to determine the feasibility of such machines as a thermally-tolerant, magnet-free alternative to present linear machine designs, many of which incorporate permanent magnets.