[Translating resource] A Stirling engine based Japanese company

[gitPharm01]

There's some information of a Japanese company I want to share with you guys:
http://greenpower-tech.net/
It's name is グリーンパワーテクノ株式会社 (greenpower techno company)
I've checked its company registration through Japan's national tax agency and made sure it's a true company.
It started operating in 2017 and managed to survive until today.

This company offers three kinds of services:
1:Consulting
2:Installation of Stirling engine systems
3:Maintenance for installed systems

The models they offer:
1.A 7~4KWatt chaff-burning power generator(Stirling engine based)
http://greenpower-tech.net/%e4%ba%8b%e6 ... %e3%83%a7/
It burns rice chaff and generates electricity and hot water.
Wood and bamboo are also acceptable fuel.
This product is made by this company.

Here's one footage video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/r0blotpK-Us
In this footage, it not only generates electricity but also warms up a green house.
The system looks clean and tidy.


2.Wood firing 1 kW emergency generator (Stirling engine based)
http://greenpower-tech.net/%e4%ba%8b%e6 ... %e9%9b%bb/
This system is portable and developed by this company.
It also can both generate electricity and heat/hot water.


3.Biomass generator system with 50kW output (Wood gas engine, may not be Stirling)
It's named CHiP50
http://greenpower-tech.net/%e4%ba%8b%e6 ... %e3%83%8d/
This system is actually imported from Italy's ESPE company.
Here's its English website:
https://www.espegroup.com/en/

4.There is also a 160kW waste wood biomass generator.
But it's actually a steam turbine-based generator so I will skip it.

I've seen post on this forum complaining there's no commercially available Stirling engines which are not educational models.
So I share this piece of information to you guys.
It seems that market of Stirling engines still exists.
But when the scale of output increases, steam turbines and wood gas generators takes over in the area of biomass energy.

[skyofcolorado]

This is useful, thank you. I can only speak for myself, but were I in the market for a commercial generator, it wouldn't be for a comprehensive solution like this, but instead just the generator with an exposed hot end where I would build and apply my own heat source/sink within specs. I understand the issues with that from a support/warranty standpoint, but it would likely appeal to a broader market.

When they show up at a harbor freight parking lot sale we'll have really made some good progress.

[gitPharm01]

This is useful, thank you. I can only speak for myself, but were I in the market for a commercial generator, it wouldn't be for a comprehensive solution like this, but instead just the generator with an exposed hot end where I would build and apply my own heat source/sink within specs. I understand the issues with that from a support/warranty standpoint, but it would likely appeal to a broader market.

When they show up at a harbor freight parking lot sale we'll have really made some good progress.

If Stirling engines become well-recognized by the market as reliable power source, your idea is quite feasible.
A complete supply chain must form up so manufacturers and vendors can work together and form up a market like what gasoline and diesel engines have.

However, many unsolved problems/challenges are still haunting Stirling engines.
That Japanese company did what they need to and survived by selling a complete service solution( agricultural waste disposal + energy production in off-grid aera + Heating ) instead of selling one engine.
By integrating Stirling technologies into a business model that fits the need of the market, a company can survive and thrive.

[gitPharm01]

There are companies making engine units in Japan.
Here's a footage of rocket-stove-based Stirling engine released in 2016, Japan:
https://youtu.be/3h8mTE6VVgQ

The manufacturer did sell Stirling engine units, which is used in that rocket stove system.
The sell started from 2010.
Here's one example:
https://i1.wp.com/liftoff.tokyo/wp-cont ... photo1.jpg
mo2SE for 200Watt
mo3SE for 300Watt .
This is a L-shaped Stirling engine.
maximum rpm is around 2000 rpm.
It can be powered by applying 500C heat source or -196C liquid nitrogen on Cold side.
The weight is around 15~17 Kg
Working gas is Helium, with 1.0Mpa or lower.

The cost for one engine unit is 88万円(6,730.4 USD).

Sadly, when I located its official website:
http://www.katch.ne.jp/~momosemd/index.htm
This company had closed down in 2019......

Still, the data left on the website is valuable.

[skyofcolorado]

I don't read a bit of Japanese, but the images, drawings, and videos are very helpful. Looks like very simple and effective implementation that could have endless utility. I also got a laugh at there being this potentially transformative technology being offered alongside a car wash soap wand. Creative minds.. You never know which direction they'll go.

3_ses_photo1.jpg (20.36 KiB) Viewed 3425 times

stirling.jpg (20.09 KiB) Viewed 3425 times

[gitPharm01]

I don't read a bit of Japanese, but the images, drawings, and videos are very helpful. Looks like very simple and effective implementation that could have endless utility. I also got a laugh at there being this potentially transformative technology being offered alongside a car wash soap wand. Creative minds.. You never know which direction they'll go.

The owner of this company is a typical Japanese technician.
He graduated in 1966 at Osaka and then joined the アイシン精機(株）(Aisin Corporation, an influential automotive parts manufacturer in Japan. )
His expertise is machine designing.
In 1987, he was on a business trip and got startled by the huge 25kW solar Stirling engines in Los Angeles.
He then jointed Japanese government's project to develop a "universal Stirling engine" (汎用スターリングエンジン開発計画)
This project took 100億円(about 76.5 million USD) and six years.
The final product is a 30kW model with 42% efficiency.
http://www.katch.ne.jp/~momosemd/image55.jpg

From then on, he worked in String engine department of Aisin Corporation.
In 1991, two solar Stirling engines by Aisn Corporation was installed on Okinawa. Each one has 8kW.
(Sadly, they are removed now. Okinawa is often ravaged by typhoons during summers.)
In 1998, the Aisin joined a project in America and installed a 25W solar Stirling engine in Arizona.
And due to the low oil price at that period of time, the project was discontinued next year.
Solar panels also got more efficient and cheaper, thus development of solar Stirling engines started facing setback.

He decided to quit Aisin in 2001 and started his company: Momose Mechanical Design / 百瀬機械設計(株）
His company got commission from NAL( 航空宇宙技術研究所, now a part of JAXA) and developed a 200W free-piston Stirling engine for Spacecrafts.

That soap wand you mentioned was just a distraction he made(For fun?) in 2017 and has nothing to do with Stirling technology.
Due to his health issues, he closed down the company in 2019.

I started translating and sharing these data and information because they might soon disappear from people's minds.
The commercial Stirling engine unit (Mo2SE / Mo3SE) took so many years to develop by a well-trained and experienced technician.
It would be a severe loss.

Luckily, the owner of that company also mentioned that the Stirling engine related data and technologies were transferred to another company named JPE(株式会社ジェー・ピー・イー).