Industrial businesses are transforming raw materials into something greater than the sum of their parts every single day, but it takes energy — and lots of it. At the same time, money and time are spent on thermal management, keeping heat, a byproduct of all industrial processes, moving out.
What if this waste heat didn’t have to be wasted? Ethosgen harnesses and re-utilizes energy sources already being produced as a byproduct so that companies can run more efficiently.
Originally from Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania, the company has shifted focus to the New York region since becoming a 76West clean energy business competition finalist last year. Shortly thereafter, they became members in the Southern Tier Clean Energy Incubator (SCI).
“It didn’t take long before knowing we had found our home in Binghamton and in the Koffman Southern Tier incubator,” said James Abrams, Founder and CEO of Ethosgen.
This July marked the first implementation of Ethosgen’s HSE (Heat Sorption to Electricity) product in New York state and the first operational unit in the U.S.
All eyes were on the unassuming white box as it was first turned online.
“Oh here it goes!” exclaimed Abrams as the system suddenly rumbled to life. The eager anticipation for this moment was contrasted by the mellow hum the unit produced.
“Once it gets working, it is less exciting,” Abrams jokes, noting how quiet the system is designed to be.
This technology was an exact fit for Local Healthcare Linen cleaning specialist Bates Troy, where the first operational unit has been installed.
“We are deemed ‘critical infrastructure’, which requires us to have backup power for our facility,” Explains Ed Arzouian, Compliance and Special Project Manager at Bates Troy.
Rather than opting for a $250,000 generator that spends most of its time sitting idle in a parking lot Bates Troy Inc. went with a more expensive but innovative and sustainable solution of using a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system also known as Cogen (for co-generating electricity and heat). The Ethosgen / Rockwell Collins equipment will compliment that and most CHP systems.
Furthering the 76West competition goal of bringing clean energy business to NYS, Binghamton-located engineering company Rockwell-Collins served as Ethosgen’s manufacturing and integration partner, developing and deploying this technology to the marketplace. Starting with a tabletop model, Rockwell was able to develop the fully functional 40kw unit.
Moving forward, Rockwell-Collins will continue to monitor and collect data on the unit, making adjustments to achieve optimal efficiency. Ethosgen plans on expanding their partnership with the firm to produce units for the global market. They are actively building out their core team to meet their expanding opportunities, which include their recent selection by NYSERDA to continue with their proprietary Hybrid Compressorless HVAC product, which creates cooling without need for electricity.
– Cory Kimmell
