Lesjöfors innovation streamlines green energy producing Stirling engine
Thanks to a specially developed suspension system for heating sheets in a Stirling engine, Lesjöfors has helped to improve the efficiency of an innovative product for the sustainable energy solution company Cleanergy. The CHP system converts methane gas into heat and electricity.
Cleanergy is a Swedish company that since 2008 has developed Stirling engine based sustainable solutions for gas and solar energy production. The company has its production in Åmål, Sweden, but exports worldwide. One of the company's products is the so-called CHP system powered by a Stirling engine which converts methane gas into heat and electricity. The product is used on landfills, water treatment plants, agriculture and other biogas plants. Lesjöfors has developed a special solution for heating sheets that has reduced the installation time considerably.
Simulation, testing and prototypes
The partnership came about after a Cleanergy representative had read an article in the Ny Teknik magazine about Lesjöfors' development of "honeycombs" for Ericsson´s electronic modules. Lesjöfors appeared to be the right partner to develop a new solution for the heating sheets that capture the heat from the combustion tube of the engine. Contact with Lesjöfors Banddetaljer in Värnamo was consequently established. The more than two years long development process was characterized by a close cooperation in which various ideas first were simulated in a development environment and later manufactured prototypes were tested.
Reduced assembly time and uniform quality
The final solution is based on 158 sheets joined together with small braces. In total there are 1 896 sheets in each engine. The sheets are made of the heat-resistant material Inconel. Once the final design was approved, a multi-slide tool was built that manufactures the complex detail. The first serial delivery left the production in May 2015.
"Thanks to the suspension system, assembly is now simpler and has been reduced from several hours to a few minutes. The exact distance between the sheets also makes the quality uniform", says Pär Hämäläinen, technical sales at Lesjöfors Banddetaljer and project manager for the Cleanergy system.
Fast and responsive approach to customer needs
In total the new solution has brought cost savings to the production. Cleanergy is very content with the cooperation with Lesjöfors and the final product.
“In our CHP systems, the heating sheets have a critical function, so it has been extremely important to implement a solution that improves quality and reduces installation time. Lesjöfors has lived up to all our expectations with a great responsiveness to our needs characterized by an innovative approach followed by fast and relevant feedback”, says Håkan Sandberg, development engineer at Cleanergy.
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