Power Surge
		by Robert Frenay Seventeen years ago, Russian èmigrè Alexander Kalina arrived in Houston, Texas, with $5.36 in his pocket and a plan. That plan has now borne fruit in a process that will considerably reduce global fuel consumption by improving the efficiency of steam-driven power plants, which produce more than two-thirds of the world's energy. If U.S. plants had the new technology, they could save $6 billion a year, according to a Department of Energy (DOE) study. Kalina's invention has drawn the attention of prominent investors and is now licensed to such major manufacturers of power-plant equipment as General Electric, ABB, Europe's Ansaldo Energia, and Japan's Ebara Corporation. The steam power plant now used to make electricity was invented 150 years ago by Scottish engineer William Rankine. It uses a heat source-coal, oil, natural gas, geothermal heat-to produce high-pressure steam that drives a turbine. The excess steam is condensed into water, which is then pumped back to a boiler. In a Rankine cycle only about 35 to 40 percent of the heat energy released ever becomes electricity. That means that of the $40 billion spent each year in the United States to fuel steam power plants, nearly $25 billion is lost. And that figure is matched in excess pollution and excess depletion of resources. Mixing the water with ammonia-which evaporates at lower temperatures-can raise efficiency at the heat stage of the cycle. But ammonia also condenses less readily, forcing engineers to use smaller turbines and lowering efficiency. Kalinas' invention solves that problem, using sophisticated thermodynamics to draw off most of the ammonia before the condensation stage. Engineers traditionally strain for productivity gains of 1 percent; a Kalina cycle can boost efficiency by as much as 40 percent. In 1991 the first Kalina power plan went online at an experimental site run by the DOE in Canoga Park, California. Built with funds from Australian scientist and inventor Ronald Wise, it can supply enough power for more than 1,000 houses. Stephan Schmidheiny, a principal of the Swatch watch company, and well-known speculator George Soros have each purchased 20 percent shares in Kalina's Exergy Corporation. In 1994 the DOE awarded Exergy a $7 million grant for a geothermal plant in Steamboat, Nevada, on which construction will begin later this year. Once it's operational, the DOE will compare its performance with that of two Rankine geothermal plants now in operation there. Discuss it! What do you think about this article? This is important, I want more I found it interesting Ehh, it was OK It's not that significant I don't care Subscribe Now! Reprinted with  permission of Robert Frenay.
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