With the rising costs of fossil fuels, many industries are looking for opportunities to save energy and money in their daily operations. Through its Advanced Reciprocating Engine Systems (ARES) program, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) seeks to help industry take advantage of reduced natural gas prices by introducing options for engine development among the major stationary, gas-fueled engine manufacturers in the United States for distributed energy and combined heat and power (CHP) applications.

Dresser Waukesha is one company that has been active in the ARES program. During Phase 1 of its involvement in the ARES project, the company worked with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to develop the Advanced Power Generation (APG) 1000 engine. The engine is a turbocharged, lean-burn unit with 42 percent efficiency that can reduce the cost of electricity produced by 10 percent. It’s also one of the world’s highest efficiency engines at 1,800 rpm and 1,500 rpm.

Analysis indicates that the APG1000 is also capable of delivering over 85 percent total efficiency when used in a combined heat and power application, which significantly increases overall fuel efficiency, lowers operating costs, and reduces the production of carbon dioxide emissions. The APG1000 gained wide market acceptance after its 2006 introduction and units have been operating in both national and international locations, including Japan, Chile, New Zealand, The Philippines, Russia, and Europe.

Dresser Waukesha is continuing its Phase II explorations with ORNL into further advances in combustion, low friction technologies, and new control technologies to increase efficiency gains and emissions reductions.

For more information on the APG1000 engine, visit www.waukeshaengine.com. For more information about ITP’s activities in accelerating the deployment of distributed energy technologies and CHP systems and applications, visit www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/distributedenergy/.

Publication date: 10/12/2009