Residual gases – a huge market potential for PWR BLOK
Continual growth in global demand for energy and the struggle to increase the proportion of renewable and carbon-neutral methods to produce electricity are creating an attractive market position for Swedish Stirling and the PWR BLOK.
Combustion (flaring) of industrial residual gases occurs in several different industries and vital services. Recycling of energy in industrial residual gases is a market that, in principle, did not exist before, as there was no technology able to process these gases, or the costs of recycling energy were simply too high. The PWR BLOK means that it is now both technically possible and profitable. More attention has also been given to the problems with residual gases in the last decade. The reason is mainly that these gases account for a significant proportion of global CO₂ emissions.
Swedish Stirling has initially concentrated on the ferrochrome industry, but residual gases from other metal industries with ferroalloys are, in principle, comparable, and a natural area of focus for the company in the coming years. An area that lies further on the horizon is residual gases from the petroleum industry. Flaring is very widely used on a global basis here and is an interesting area for Swedish Stirling in the future. This also applies to industries and applications where other fuels can be used to power the Stirling engine and produce electricity. It can for example process hydrogen gas, digester gases, biogases, ethanol and so on. It is potentially possible to effectively convert anything that generates heat into electricity with the Stirling engine.
Long term market potential
| Industry | Number of units |
| Ferrochrome South Africa | 550 PWR BLOK |
| Ferroalloys globally | 6,500 PWR BLOK |
| Other flare- and residual gases | 100,000 PWR BLOK |