KW Micro Power of Miami, Florida, is developing a microturbine generator that company president Enrique Enriquez expects to deliver the highest power density ever realized in a generator of this class. The 30-inch by 15-inch-diameter generator coming to market soon will be capable of 30 kW, an output that today might require a device around twice these dimensions. Additive manufacturing is essential for producing the intricate components that allow a large power output from a small volume. And because AM is also enabling lightweighting of the same components, the 150-pound generator will offer a previously unattained power-to-weight ratio as well, Enriquez says.
The company has gone component by component through its generator design looking for engineering wins it could achieve through AM. An earlier success involved a 10-inch-diameter ring-shaped component with elaborate internal passages for channeling exhaust gas.
Now, the component seen here is an even bigger success — bigger in terms of volume, and in terms of the many interrelated benefits the additive design achieves. This housing for the turbine features internal passages and large internal spaces not only for lightweighting, but also for cooling the system and preheating the fuel by passing the fuel through the housing structure.