SunMachine Germany

.

SunMachine.com

SunMachine.com is a very interesting small company, just 100 employees, recently founded in Germany in 2005. I am very interested in them because they are developing some very interesting CHP machines and a mini solar converter.

The development that fascinates me the most is their Wood Pellet Burner / Stirling Engine CHP.

Unique Down-firing Top-feed Burner

Unique Pellet Burner

I am especially fascinated by the top fed down-firing burner design. Also I love micro-mini feed system and hopper. The rest of the CHP design is a bit more familiar.

This bit of engineering is a serious development of the woodpellet burner - I really hope that it works as good as it looks on paper. It IMHO represents a major design shift for pellet boilers - may I offer congratulations to SunMachine!!!

I wonder how is the ash removed from the machine, and how reliable the pellet transport system is? These two functions are the cause of very many wood pellet service problems in many current machines.

The SunMachine machine looks to be a major departure from the current norms. I would love to see this thing working.



Above diagram shows the basic set-up with an indication that the machine produces 20% Electricty and 70% Heat - giving an overall efficiency of 90%.

Here is the Sunmachine Pellet data sheet:

Datasheet Sunmachine-Pellet
1.0 CHP unit
Electric power fed to grid: ------ approx. 3 kW (electric output)
Thermal power: approx. ------- 10.5 kW (thermal output)
Efficiency (electric): ------------ approx. 20 %
Overall efficiency: -------------- approx. 90 %
CHP coefficient: ---------------- 0.286
Flow temperature: ------------- 50 - max.75° C / 122 - max.162° F
Return temperature, max. ----- 60° C / 140° F
optimal return temperature: --- 30° C / 86° F
Sound emission: --------------- approx. 49 dB
Color: ------------------------- RAL 5001 (blue-green)
Weight: (without covering): --- approx. 410 kg / approx. 903.89 lbs
Dimensions LxWxH in mm / inch: 1160x760x1590 / 45.7"x30"x62.6"
1.1 Burner unit
Fuel: woodpellets, DIN plus (german industrial standard)
Power: 14.9 kW fuel provided
Matintenance interval: recommended once a year or every 3,500 operating hours
1.2 Stirling engine
Cylinders: 1
Cylinder capacity: 520 ccm / 31.73 cubic inch
Speed range: 500 - 1,000 rpm
Working gas: nitrogen
Working pressure: max. 40 bar / max. 580 PSI
2.0 Input with inverter
Feed to grid: single phase 230 Volt 50 Hz
Grid control: 3 phases through build-in grid disconnecting device
2.1 Inverter
Nominal output: 3.4 kW
Peak capacity: 3.8 kW
Input voltage: 350 - 750 Volt
Efficiency: max. 95.7 %
Power factor cosPhi: 0.997
3.0 Control Unit
Interface: graphic touchscreen display
Interface RS 232: suitable for modem and PC (readout of important data)
Optional: 3 heating circuits and one warm water controllable,
switching output for peak load demand
4.0 Feed
Pellet-supply-container: approx. 50 l / approx. 13.2 US gallons
Pellet feed from storage room / bag - silo / via vacuum delivery with internal day / night control
subterranean tank to sunmachine: (closed system)
5.0 Exhaust
Exhaust: Exhaust gas routing after request with solid fuel boilers condensate
6.0 Recommended heat-store stratified storage: min. 1,000 liters / 264 US gallons incl. heating rod 9 kW

Subject to technical modifications. The values, power ratings and other technical data stated in this data sheet, in our brochures, announcements and other bidding documents as well as included images or drawings are standard only approximately, unless the data are explicitly qualified as binding by us. We assume no liability for translation errors! Version: 2/0

.