Monday, November 17, 2008

ReGen takes in $5M for heat-to-power engine tech

By Mass High Tech Staff

ReGen Power Systems LLC, a maker of a new kind of low-temperature differential engine that converts heat to power, has landed $5 million in funding from 21Ventures LLC and the Quercus Trust.

The funding will be used to design and build two prototypes of the company’s engine, which is based on the principles of Stirling engines. The first prototype will be a 10 kilowatt version for evaluation and testing, while the second will be a 500 kilowatt version aimed at field testing, according to a company statement. The company will then move to beta versions of its product.

Called an “external combustion engine,” ReGen Power’s design is capable of using a wider variety of heat sources to generate the temperature changes needed to drive the action. The firm plans to offer engines that operate at 250 degrees centigrade to exploit furnace exhaust, while another version will operate closer to 100 degrees to condense low pressure steam.

According to company officials, the design, which will not yield any greenhouse gases, will be applicable to a number of industries, including paper, chemicals, refining, steel, aluminum, glass and cement.

Mass High Tech originally profiled the company last March, after it received a $500,000 loan from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

The company was founded by Dick Meloy and Ricardo Conde.

Quercus Trust is a stealthy investment fund that has been particularly active in clean technology over the past year. The firm has made at least 10 clean tech investments this year, including dropping $1 million into Fall River’s Ocean Renewable Power Co. LLC, leading a $4.5 million round for Maynard-based hydrogen technology developer Nanoptek Corp. and backing an $18 million recapitalization of Danbury, Conn.-based Electro Energy Inc., a maker of advanced battery technologies.

New York-based 21Ventures, with a $250 million fund, focuses on security, mobile software and clean energy technologies, and counts half of its portfolio under the clean tech category.