Introducing Otari Energy, the company that transforms plain old hay grown in the spring, to year round energy for lifestyle and rural dwellers,
via our Total Combustion Furnace (TCF).
TCF automatically loads hay or combustible rubbish into a very high temperature combustion chamber then extracts every last drop of energy stored and converts it into clean reliable electricity and hot water which taps into the power supply for your property to supplement or replace solar power from panels or mains supply, and pre-heat your existing hot water supply. Assuming the consumption of just hay bales, it takes around 200 standard bales per year to provide 1 Megawatt-hour of power per month. This is more than sufficient to power a standard 4-bedroom 300 sq. metre house without the need to have solar panels or a mains supply, even in the coldest areas of New Zealand. Better still, assuming the property has a mains supply, the equipment will spend most of its time back feeding the grid and thus generating income for its owners. TCF also can be easily wired to preheat the water flowing to the hot water cylinder(s) in the house, thus further reducing electrical consumption (up to 30% in most houses). This is a win-win.
Because TCF combustion runs at 500 deg C under extremely accurate microprocessor control, there is no smoke from the system, and almost perfect insulation means that the system will efficiently idle in periods of no demand (for example at night) consuming minimal feedstock. Because a bale typically lasts for 2 days and the auto-feeder can stack 4 bales, refuelling the system is only required once per week, and it is usually only a 2-minute job to load the next week’s bales into the auto-hopper. Lifting equipment which is standard with the TCF removes the need to man-handle bales. Due to the high temperatures of combustion, there is very little need for cleaning of the furnace chamber itself, and when required it is a 10 minute exercise which does not require the system to be shut down or cooled off. The waste can be used as high potency fertiliser for the property, thus completing the carbon cycle.
If the site already has solar panels installed, then the TCF may be connected directly to the battery backup inputs of the inverter, which means virtually all existing solar systems can easily take the TCF without modification or rewiring. But the TCF provides seamless power when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow and will be always there to assist the solar panels in periods when demand exceeds the somewhat puny output of solar panels when the day is cloudy or in winter when solar power can drop at least 80% even on sunny days.
TCF is delivered on its own trailer with couplings for power and hot water. Assuming a solar system is already fitted, it takes as little as 1 hour to have the TCF installed and running. Inserting the water feed into the hot water supply can take longer, but provides a phenomenal payback. The economics of TCF is outstanding. Payback is 3 years, even in the best environment for mains supply, but in more rural areas it can be as little as 12 months. Better yet, TCF assists the rest of the community by lowering overall power consumption from existing scarce renewable resources, and by locating power generation adjacent to the demand point, so transmission losses are eliminated.
Since TCF is designed to burn only hay and combustible waste, its green credentials are impeccable. Every year when the hay grows it sequesters more carbon in the roots than combustion of the hay produces, therefore it is better than net zero, it is a net carbon sink. Whilst the system has been designed around hay, it works even better if it burns a more energy dense crop, such as miscanthus.
Miscanthus, also known as elephant grass, is a perennial grass which is similar to bamboo and is becoming an important feedstock in the coming years for reliable electricity supply around the world. It is already well established in the UK. Miscanthus is the fastest growing, most mass-producing plant in the world. Once planted it will grow for over 20 years even if cropped twice per year. It consistently sequesters more carbon in its roots than is produced from combustion, thus leading the world to a cleaner, cheaper and sustainable energy source, that virtually eliminates the transportation costs of other energy sources such as coal and petroleum.