Cyclone’s prototype biomass-to-power generator is a self-contained, compact system that utilizes the company’s waste heat engine (WHE) to produce power from plant-based biomass combustion.
RTI is currently developing the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR), under a phase II SBIR project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an agency of the US Department of Defense. The EATR’s mission includes long range military reconnaissance without the need for manual or conventional re-fueling.
Robert Finklestein, president of RTI, said: “We are very pleased with the performance of Cyclone’s biomass-to-power system, and now look forward to adding it to our intelligent robotic platform in completion of our Phase II contract award from DARPA.”
At the heart of Cyclone’s current biomass-to-power system for the proof-of-concept EATR is the patent pending WHE, a six-cylinder Rankine cycle external heat engine capable of generating up to 18HP of mechanical power.
An attached combustion chamber produces up to 600 degree Fahrenheit of steam to run the WHE at peak performance. An alternator then converts mechanical energy from the engine into as much as 10kW of usable electricity to power electronics or recharge batteries. A more powerful version of the WHE is expected to be used in future field prototypes of the EATR.
