Observer Reporter
October 17, 2007

Waynesburg company gets energy grant
BY BOB NIEDBALA


WAYNESBURG - Doug Galbraith, general manager of Separation Design Group, believes an alternative energy device he invented will be able to reduce his building's heating and air conditioning costs by a third. The innovative heat exchange device should, in addition, provide some of the electricity the company uses to run its operations at the former Curry Home in Franklin Township.

Galbraith's idea has other believers. To help develop the device, Separation Design Group was awarded a $112,852 grant this week from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority. The grant was part of $11 million in grants announced by Gov. Ed Rendell for 24 projects that involve innovative, alternative and renewable energy.

Separation Design Group, a four-year-old research and development company, will use the heat exchange device to help heat and air condition its laboratories at the Curry Home and to generate a portion of the building's electricity. The device will use solar thermal collectors to generate heat to run a rotary heat engine that Galbraith invented.

The mechanical energy from the rotary engine will generate electricity and will drive a ground loop air condition system, Galbraith said. "Waste heat" also will be captured and used to heat the building, he said. Galbraith explained that the invention involves a different application of solar power. Normal solar thermal devices heat water that then is used directly to heat a building.
His heat engine will convert heat energy created by solar thermal collectors to mechanical energy. "This extends the use of the collectors to maximize output," he said.

His use of solar power also will be different from photovoltaic cells that convert light directly to electricity. "This technology will compete with photovoltaic technologies," Galbraith said. "We expect to be able to beat photovoltaic performance in terms of efficiency and cost per unit of energy," he said.
The invention will help the company reduce its heating and air conditioning costs. It also will reduce the generation of carbon dioxide created by energy sources that now power its heating and air conditioning systems. The device, in addition, should be ideal for a building like the Curry Home or for larger buildings like shopping malls. Galbraith said he expects to have the device in operation at the Curry home in about two years.

Separation Design Group, which employs 11 full- and part-time employees, is also developing several other new technologies. The company has received funding to develop new methods to separate gases and liquids into component parts for applications in energy, health care and other industries.

One device the company is working on will produce oxygen and nitrogen from air in a more energy-efficient manner than existing methods. Its use will vary from making combustion engines and fuel cells more efficient to miniaturizing portable oxygen machines for home health care.

Other projects that received grants from the Energy Development Authority involve biofuel production, carbon sequestration and green building technologies.

"With rising energy costs, uncertain supplies and political upheavals around the world, investing in homegrown energy solutions is in America's best interest," Rendell said in a release announcing the grants. "Rather than relying on foreign nations for our energy, which makes us economically vulnerable, we're investing in ourselves, our companies, communities and people," he said.