New Generator Technology Cuts Emissions, Embraces Sustainability

The post New Generator Technology Cuts Emissions, Embraces Sustainability appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The search for more efficient methods of power generation at a time when climate change is top of mind continues to foster innovation. A U.S. company is among the latest to release a new technology, with development of a self-contained generator that doesn't run on fossil fuels and works on the premise that once created, electricity can be produced continuously, in a method that's both efficient and cost-effective.

A&I Power, headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida, has received a patent for its technology, which is a generator with a static core, wrapped in electrical wire, to provide oscillations that, when transferred to the stators, will generate electricity." Company executives said its current prototype is able to provide sufficient output electricity to extract a portion in a feedback loop that continuously provides input. Therefore, an initial power source is necessary, but the power source can then be removed after the feedback loop is in place-thus allowing the generator to be efficient and portable."

Iyad Baghdane, COO, and Alexis Herrera, CEO, of A&I Power, in an interview with POWER said the company's bread and butter is in power generation." Baghdane, along with Alexis Herrera, the company's CEO, has worked to develop a generator that can provide a sustainable supply of electricity with no emissions, that requires little maintenance, and can deliver cost savings versus traditional diesel- or gas-powered systems.

We're both in electrical engineering," said Baghdane, adding that he and Herrera have always looked at how we can optimize conventional power. The time has come to reimagine the way in which we create energy ... we have envisioned a new way of thinking about power generation that is highly efficient and positions energy output in a way that centers the focus on the well-being of the climate while simultaneously lowering expenditures on the technology involved."

Correcting Inefficiencies'

Baghdane said he and Herrera focused on correcting what he called the inefficiencies" of today's power generation. We went back to the basics, which is [Michael] Faraday and [James Clerk] Maxwell's equations, it's what we've been using since the time of Niloka Tesla," Baghdane said, noting how electromagnetics defined several phenomena, including electricity and light.

We realized it's really the rotation," Baghdane said. We saw that there's room to optimize this in a different way."

We did a lot of study on how could we use mechanical energy" to create electricity, said Herrera, noting A&I received a provisional patent in 2019 for the technology.

This chart provides information about the generator's performance test set-up. Source: A&I Power

A&I Power's invention relates to a method of generating electricity based on electromagnetic theory; the two executives said their technology is a new application based on Faraday and Maxwell's equations. While traditional systems suffer significant loss in energy due to the inefficient systems relying on mechanical components and combustion, A&I technology solves this problem by maximizing efficiency while perfectly obeying the laws of physics," the company says in a technical overview.

The company's technical paper says that, When comparing the new technology to traditional electrical energy generation, it is observed that a higher yield from the new technology is achieved. That increase in efficiency is directly related to removing all inefficiencies and physical limitations in the traditional system (i.e. mechanical and combustion dependencies) and the energy loss associated with those older techniques.

As an additional benefit, our patented technology presents a green, environmentally friendly approach to electrical energy generation which is easily integrated into traditional systems to obtain the target efficiency with minimal maintenance for continued optimal operation. After several trials, a prototype was constructed and proved that power could be generated without the need of any mechanical energy or alternative energy."

This chart looks at performance test results for the generator. Source: A&I Power

There was nothing out there that was a power generation technology that's static," Baghdane told POWER. We're not creating energy out of nothing, [and] it's not a perpetual machine ... we have an AC [alternating current] source, think of it like a battery that will excite the coil." He said that after the provisional patent, he and Herrera said, Let's go and build a prototype. There are a lot of [ideas] out there, and they work on a theoretical but not a practical basis. We were able to prove the concept."

No Rotating Equipment

The A&I generator negates the need for mechanical rotating equipment. Baghdane and Herrera said it allows for an 80% reduction in material, along with a 70% reduction in manufacturing time. They said that because the generator has no engine, and does not require fuel, it is safer, requires little maintenance, and is portable.

This is a view of performance test data, where the blue line represents the input current, and the green line represents the input voltage and frequency. Courtesy: A&I PowerThis is another view of performance test data, where the blue line represents the output current, and the green line represents output voltage and frequency. Courtesy: A&I Power

They said the technology also is highly scalable, easily integratable, and is applicable throughout a wide range of industries and products included, but not limited to the following: IoTs, drones, electric cars, larger vehicles, backup generators, large portable generators required for emergency use, and existing and new power plants."

The executives listed several industries they said would benefit from the technology, including agriculture, telecommunications, and the medical field, particularly as a business where both remote and reliable sources of power are critical.

This is a view of the generator packing in a WC configuration. Courtesy: A&I PowerThis is a view of the generator packing in a WOC configuration. Courtesy: A&I Power

We have a roadmap," said Baghdane. Our plan is to build specific use cases, look for commercial partnerships, look for the market experts in every industry. They have the resources to build this out ... our strategy is to really give this out to the world in terms of licensing and royalties. With this formula, you can customize any size you want. We can go and build a specific use case, say 10 kW. We can technically power a complete 5G tower, we can power homes and small buildings. You can disconnect from the grid, you can have this running non-stop, for powering your whole house."

The company thinks the technology can prove itself quickly, particularly because of its lifecycle and cost-savings compared to traditional generators.

The copper lifetime is your limitation," said Baghdane, referring to the stator copper coil. He said that lifetime is basically 100 years, with over 90% efficiency. The fact that you've eliminated the mechanical rotation, you've eliminated fossil fuels and emissions, reduced CAPEX and OPEX and maintenance ... and the scalability is 100% applicable. We just eliminated the dependency on moving parts. We have the simplicity of set-up, and application to existing use cases."

-Darrell Proctor is associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).

The post New Generator Technology Cuts Emissions, Embraces Sustainability appeared first on POWER Magazine.