Ten years of research and ten million dollars spent. Here are the highlights on the gigantic work of the folks at Triskel Marine who came up with Integrel, a kind of superalternator that threatens to make the dear old stand-alone generator obsolete. The first award they won was the overall win of the DAME (the award given by journalists and company insiders each year at METS, the big accessories fair in Amsterdam).
The starting premise is that marine diesel engines generally operate in a very inefficient region of their power curve. Thus, there is a good amount of “reserve energy” that can be harnessed for new power generation. The same applies to diesel-powered marine generators. These must be sized with respect to the maximum peak loads and, therefore, in operation at a normal speed exploit between 0 and 25 percent of capacity.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The heart of the system is a 48 V high-power alternator mounted in the housing-always provided-for the installation of a second alternator.To enable the latter to be as large as possible, the system integrates an external regulator with built-in rectifier, which converts the three-phase output of the alternator to 48 V DC. This is finally transmitted to a designed 10 kW battery. according to the company, to last ten years.
Sophisticated software constantly monitors and adjusts the energy produced, optimizing it in consideration of two distinct conditions-at sea and at anchor. A key element of the system’s functionality is the automatic scaling of both load capacity at low rpm and at maximum rpm.
Comparing electricity
The electricity produced by both conventional generators (and main engines) when boats are at anchor is very “expensive,” and in practical terms this translates into a rather reduced range for a given fuel capacity.It appears instead that the electricity provided by Integrel is produced 5-10 times more efficiently. The amount of spare capacity available in a boat’s main engine is such that the Integrel alternator (9kW) can already be used with small 30-horsepower engines.
https://www.giornaledellavela.com/2018/11/13/tendenze-generatore-addio-e-arrivato-il-superalternatore/
You will only need to periodically check the condition of the alternator drive belts, which are expected to last several hundred hours.
The Integrel system is more expensive than a stand-alone generator, but in the long run it provides-according to the company-lower long-term operating costs, greater convenience, and greater reliability.
