Korea Develops Electricity-Generating Home Boiler

Park Seong-je of KIMM, who led the development said, “With the technology, it is expected that micro-sized cogeneration systems spreading among developed countries will be localized soon in Korea.” (image: Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials)

SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Korean scientists have localized Stirling engine technology, generating electricity along with heat from a home boiler.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) announced on November 27 that it had developed a Stirling engine generator capable of producing not only hot water, but also up to 1kilowatt of electricity from a home boiler.

Stirling engines, unlike internal combustion engines that generate power through ignition and explosion, use heat to produce power, and are called clean engines as they emit less noise and toxic gases. The Stirling engine, with a closed-cylinder filled with helium or hydrogen, operates pistons by heating the gases.

The newly developed Stirling engine can produce 1KW of electricity through a two-way linear generator. Existing 1KW-class Stirling generators being produced by a couple of companies are mainly installed with one-way linear generator.

While both generator types achieve similar power efficiency, KIMM was able to reduce noise and vibration drastically by installing two-way generators.

KIMM expects the new technology will be used in solar cell generation, small power generation for military or aerospace usage, and generation systems reusing heat produced by automobile exhausts or industrial waste heat.  

Park Seong-je of KIMM, who led the development said, “Recently, many people are interested in the cogeneration system due to energy shortages and environmental pollution. With the technology, it is expected that micro-sized cogeneration systems spreading among developed countries will be localized soon in Korea.”

By John Choi (johnchoi@koreabizwire.com)