The Inoplex Cogenerator

Our standard Cogen Generator

Whilst we can design and commission a Cogeneration Power Plant specifically for your requirements, we do have a unit that suits most situations. The standard Inoplex Cogenerator creates 50KW of electricity and 70KWt of heat, with our normally aspirated 4L six cylinder engine. If we boost this engine we can increase this further to 67KW of electricity and 93KWt of thermal energy. It can run on LPG, Natural Gas, Petrol, Methane and Biogas.

Key components of the Inoplex Cogenerator

Variable Speed Engine 

Powered by natural gas, LPG or biogas, a 4 litre, 6 cylinder variable speed engine is used as the prime mover. This engine has double overhead cams, variable camshaft timing, four valves per cylinder, and a well-deserved reputation for low-cost durability.

The engineering in this engine also provides excellent fuel efficiency, and combined with our power electronics, produces outstanding overall conversion to heat and power.  This approach extracts the highest possible value from the fuel available to maximise the  owners Return on Investment. 

The engine is packaged up with all the gear you need (no hidden extras required); this is a fully integrated package. A gas delivery valve train that fully meets the Australian regulatory requirements is included, integrated within the Generator with an isolation valve, filter, pressure regulator, double block valve, flame arrestor, fuel trim valve and gas mixer.

Many think that the engine is the centre of a generator.  It may sound odd, and we know its unconventional, but the engine is actually the lower cost consumable part of the cogeneration plant.  This is the wearing part of the system and will be inexpensively replaced more frequently, but the rest of the gear is highly durable and should last without problems for a very long time.

Alternator

Efficiency and Durability – don’t touch it, set and forget. A 66 KW Permanent Magnet Alternator with a 15-year life expectancy converts the rotational energy into variable electrical energy.  The characteristics of the alternator and engine speed have been electrically modelled to create the required power suitable for conversion to grid synchronisation and stand alone three phase power.  The Permanent Magnet Alternators are highly efficient and durable as they have fewer parts to fail or adjust. 

Engine Speed Freedom

As the power electronics produce the precise power sine wave required, the engine can be run at variable speed and at variable configurations.  This feature empowers the CHP to:

• vary the proportion of heat and power produced to meet your site demand with minimal waste,
• run on sub standard biogas from a landfill or anaerobic digester quality, and
• keep running producing power when the engine is worn and would not be able to hold synchronisation at power in a traditional synchronous generator. 

This extends the service life of the engines reducing your maintenance costs, all at the highest possible efficiency.

Flexible Power Options

Choose your power options, as the inverters can produce:

• Grid Synchronised power,
• Back up power when the grid is down, or
• Stand alone power.
• Variable frequency, so we can soft start up a large pump set connected to the inverter generator and slowly ramp it up to speed of 50 Hz and then further increase the speed another 20% to 60 Hz.

These digital CHPs have your needs covered with these modes easily switched off and on through the remote communications.

Power Factor

With the on board controller scrutinising your site power characteristics, it can produce additional, imperfect sine wave power to clean up the site power factor.  So while your site will still use reactive power, this will be produced by the cogeneration unit and the power utility will not see the reactive power and therefore reduce your power charges.

Unbalanced Loads

A good site electrician will balance the current being drawn over the three phases. This is not easy, as the loads change throughout the day and a site may be balanced one moment, but unbalanced an hour later.  The three phase inverters and neutral inverters can work together to produce unbalanced power, with more or less current on the various phases to balance your site.  The utility power meter then sees your three phases tidily balanced. The power electronics work to reduce your power costs.

Heat Exchanger

Inoplex has developed our own Heat Exchanger that enables us to be a market leader for energy efficiency. Whilst many Cogenerators on the market can have up to 40% for heat recovery; we have increased this to up to 52%. This means our Cogenerators can have up to 92% efficiency.

Control Panels

The control Panels are built tough and reliable, using locally available components. They are locally designed built and programmed in Australia to Australian Standards. The state of the art manufacturing facility, located in regional Victoria, produces high quality panels for Government Authorities such as water and waste water treatment plants, industrial applications such as commercial swimming pools and primary producers such as chicken and pork farmers.

Key advantages of the Inoplex Cogenerator

There are many advantages with the Inoplex Cogeneration Power Plant, but some of the main ones are:

Energy Efficiency

As mentioned above, we have spent a lot of time developing our heat exchangers. These are made with high grade stainless steel and have a high heat recovery rate; enabling us to push our overall cogeneration energy efficiency up from the common 80% to 92%.

Load following for both electricity and heat

Our power electronics allow us to follow both heat and electricity. This allows us to run our CHP engines at the right speed to generate the right amount of both heat and electricity without excess waste.  We can turn down our electrical output from 100% to 0% with maximum efficiency; even to the point were it will run just one light bulb.

Wide range of fuel qualities

This is where we really diverge from the rest of the market. Inoplex cogenerators can run with lower quality gas and in harsher conditions than most of our competitors. How do we achieve this?

Most other CHP engines on the market are expensive to replace and repair. They will be turned down, or even turned off, when conditions aren’t ideal to prevent costly repairs. Because we generally use a standard, mass produced Ford engine, you can afford to run these in harsh conditions to continue generating the heat and power you need, knowing that if the engine gives out you can easily and cheaply replace it. You can even use your local mechanic and don’t need to fly in the experts from a capital city or overseas.

Specifications of the Inoplex Cogenerator