Indian Factories Waste Energy: How Startup Captures It

Indian factories alone discard ₹66,000 crore worth of energy yearly by using a little-known mechanical device to reduce the pressure of high-pressure steam. Wankel Energy Systems’ innovation could convert this wastage into a steady power source for factories.

The Mechanism of Energy Waste in Factories

Engineers run steam through a pressure-reducing valve as it enters a factory, but while doing so, it bleeds off excess pressure to a pressure valve. Wankel Energy Systems are pioneering a solution to harness this energy waste. Factories cannot operate with varying pressure levels. High-pressure steam drives the factory's machinery. The high-pressure steam passes through a pressure-reducing valve, which the equipment needs at a specific lower pressure. This difference in pressure is disposable. The device is called a pressure-reducing valve (PRV), which is the single reason why ₹66,000 crore worth of usable energy is being lost every year. This pressure-reducing valve was initially used to protect factory equipment. However, industrialists and factories use this high-pressure steam to run their processes, and the steam is released with the reduced pressure.

The Importance of Capturing Waste Energy

With a significant portion of the world's total energy consumption attributed to industries, this loss becomes substantial. Steam systems alone account for a large share of industrial energy use, thus, even recovering a marginal percentage of that wasted pressure would translate into millions of dollars in savings every year. Keeping this in check would eventually lower electricity bills, carbon emissions, and manufacturing costs. 1000s of factories across India, thus are trying to prevent this waste of energy.

Manufacturing factories with Phoenix Steam Expander

Replacing Pressure Reducing Valves with Phoenix Steam Expander

Wankel Energy Systems are targeting this fallen pressure segment with a compact rotary engine for capturing the pressure that industries. Their pressure-reducing valve device is replaced by a steam expander. The compact rotary engine captures the pressure lost in steam systems and converts that pressure into electricity. They have designed this rotary engine to specifically capture the pressure lost in steam systems and convert that pressure into electricity.

Capturing Steam Pressure with Steam Expander

Their intention is to replace pressure-reducing valves with a steam-stepped engine. As high-pressure steam rushes into this compact rotary engine, the dropping pressure spins a rotor, driving a generator to create electricity. This compact rotary engine that spins a rotor driving the generator is what all the hype is about. The steam exits at a pressure that the factory needs, although initially developed in academic labs.

From Lab to Commercial Space

Winkle Energy Systems are a deep tech startup spun off from IIT Madras. The company designs a Phoenix Steam Expander. It captivates the steam pressure that is disposed of by the pressure-reducing valve and converts it into electricity. The steam that exits is at the exact low pressure the factory originally needed, and the founder spent years perfecting this work in academic labs. They've raised a $1 million pre-seed round to commercialize this technology.

Recycling Energy without Fuel Additions

Factories could run factory operations with no additional fuel — coal, gas, or steam — by using Phoenix Steam Expander — a compact rotary engine. This technology saves costs, and reactors operate smoothly without a need for additional fuel sources.

Energy Savings Through Smarter Engineering

India has 45,000+ industrial boilers operating across major sectors. Every single factory has a pressure valve that releases energy. Wankel Energy Systems’ innovation allows factories to save additional costs by refraining from additional fuel sources to run these boilers. The opportunity is enormous. Markedly surpassing $2000 million by 2030, Indian factories have an enormous opportunity to reach their manufacturing goals. That's exactly what Wankel Energy Systems are up to.