CHP unit "Quegen"

[highwater]

Name/Location:
Randall Burkhalter
North Central Oklahoma, USA

Operational Philosophy:

Phase I of this system will be as backup of increasingly unreliable grid service.
Phase II will likely be switching over to residential night time consumption provided by this unit.
Phase III will be dependency on this system with the grid as backup for heavy AC use in the summer time.
Phase IV is total off-grid, with oil crops for fuel.

Bill of Materials:

Prime mover:
Currently have on hand, one of the little 2cyl Cat label Perkins/Shibura diesels.
I guess the term is pre-ban, or could be grandfathered. Not sure exactly.
My intention at this point is to turn this engine for multiple copies of the little 2cyl Yanmar, while a certain supplier still has inventory. This should give longivety and consistency, so far as parts and downtime/maintainance go. As engines go I would love to have big and heavy, but I'm getting old, and these little engines will be much easier to manage, maintain, and overhaul.

Undecided on gen head at this point.
Undecided on power transfer means to the gen head.

AC compressor also undecided.

Bought a couple of pallets of small lead acid batteries a while back. Low amp hour cap, but cheap enough to play with. New, dry charge with acid. Will have to replace/upgrade.

Battery cable material on hand.

Have scrounged several liquid to air coils that might serve as radiators.

Will need to invest in an inverter. (Have some homework to do on this).
Will need to invest in one of those nice indirect water tanks for DHW.

I'm short on the silicon based electronics engineering needed for control, so that will need to be purchased or mirrored from a proven design.

Theory of Operation:

Once past Phase II, this unit would run during heavy thermal demand times, with the intermediate electrical demand being handled by the battery bank/inverter. I believe there is much to be said for thinking heat first with surplus electrical output.

Stage of Development:
This unit is most definitely in the first stages of development.
Parts are being gathered.
Energy consumption is being trimmed.
Lifestyles are changing, and have been for some time.

Unit Name:
Quegen (because you can't shrink heat)