ACEP and the Green Machine In the Community of Tok, Alaska
Daisy Huang, ACEP Research Engineer, will be co-hosting a town meeting in Tok, Alaska on November 16th, with Tanana Chiefs Conference and Tok utility owner, Alaska Power & Telephone (AP&T). The town meeting will introduce the Green Machine which was recently installed in the Tok Power Plant. The device uses Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology to create additional electricity from excess heat produced by diesel generators.
The Green Machine was installed in the summer of 2013 after project partners selected Tok as the best field test location of this ORC unit, which has the potential to be one of the most promising technologies for decreasing fuel usage of diesel-powered electric generators in rural Alaska. AP&T agreed to contribute its expertise and trained man-power at the test site.
The Green Machine as installed, utilizing waste heat from the Tok diesel cooling system, has the potential to generate over 200,000 kWhrs per year, saving over $60,000 per year in fuel. The fuel savings are directly reflected in the Energy Charge component of the Tok power bills. While the energy generated by the Green Machine is only 2% of the total, it provides direct benefit to the Tok rate payers, utilizing energy that would otherwise be lost.
If the Green Machine performs as well in Tok as it has at the UAF power plant, it will be clear that the Green Machine and possibly other small-scale ORC systems are feasible for use in other Alaska power plants.
To find out more about the Green Machine Project contact Daisy Huang at dhuang@alaska.edu.
Photo Caption: The Green Machine was installed at the Tok Power Plant and is producing power.
Photo courtesy of Alaska Power & Telephone.