By Luke Voogt
A North Geelong company has helped develop a “world-first” electrical generator from three V6 Holden Commodore engines.
Melbourne’s Capricorn Power unveiled the environmentally-friendly Barton engine on Thursday at the headquarters of Austeng, which engineered and manufactured the machine.
“There were people saying we should have manufactured it from a Ford engine,” Capricorn chief Mike Hodgkinson said.
The Barton engine can generate energy from any heat source of about 350C, Mr Hodgkinson explained.
“The heat expands the air within the machine, turning a piston and the piston turns a generator,” he said.
The company will trial will the machine at Geelong Cemetery Trust crematorium and Barwon Water’s Black Rock treatment plant.
Mr Hodgkinson described the generator as a major advance in the quests for sustainable energy and to reduce waste.
The Barton engine could solve an urgent waste problem, with China rejecting waste and landfill levies rising, he said.
The engine could produce electricity from the burning of gas, and green and wood wastes, Mr Barton said.
Burning green waste produced much lower carbon dioxide emissions than fossil fuels, he explained.
The engine had the potential to be twice as efficient as Loy Yang Power Station in Gippsland, Mr Hodgkinson said.
“It will only produce a fraction of the electricity from Loy Yang but we intend to make a whole lot of them.”
The engine could also help decentralise power sources, meaning “we lose less energy in transporting it on the poles and wires”, Mr Hodgkinson explained.
Mr Hodgkinson praised Auseng for the company’s innovation and making the build “look easy”.
“Everyone with experience building first-of-their kind equipment knows the reality is anything but,” he said.
“We partnered with Austeng in Geelong to build this pilot engine because of their experience in converting ideas into engineered solutions.”
Austeng has exclusive rights to the patent-pending machine, which excited managing director Ross George.
“I believe this could potentially lead to the establishment of a whole new engine manufacturing technology in Geelong, leveraging off Geelong’s traditional skill set in the auto sector,” he said.
About 70 people attended the launch of the technology, including its inventor Doctor Noel Barton and Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson.
Capricorn Power invested $480,000 in the generator while the Australian Government contributed $292,750 through its $20 million Regional Jobs and Investments Package.
“The successful demonstration of Capricorn Power’s Barton engine is a major step forward in developing waste heat to energy systems,” Ms Henderson said.
“This project is a great example of how the Turnbull Government is investing in innovation and advanced manufacturing to create new jobs and opportunities.”
