Noble Thermodynamic Systems spun out from the Combustion Analysis Laboratories at the University of California, Berkeley. They make a closed loop reciprocating engine with no exhaust. It recycles argon, a noble gas, as a working fluid, increasing the power generation efficiency while at the same time capturing air pollutants, in particular, carbon dioxide.

• Zero-Carbon: Outperforms efficiency benchmark power generation technologies while capturing 100% of the carbon dioxide generated, effectively rendering a negative cost of carbon abatement.
• Dispatchable: Builds on and enhances the features of the reciprocating engine to provide the fastest ramping capabilities to the grid, making the technology the perfect companion to intermittent renewables.
• Cost: Provides low cost of ownership thanks to its ultra efficient performance and its conventional, mass-produced engine components. This yields a wide span of revenue generating hours.
• Retrofittable: Retrofittable onto existing reciprocating engine plants, it enables the transformation of over a terawatt of existing polluting dispatchable assets into clean and efficient ones.

In funding and piloting stage.

The base technology being commercialized by Noble Thermodynamic systems was invented by several scientists at UC Berkeley to optimize thermal efficiency and lower cost for low carbon power production. They utilize Argon as a working fluid and do not require external carbon capture infrastructure.

Patent can be found here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20170211515A1/en

• Efficiency up to 10% higher than the state of the art.
• Integration of this technology helps abate CO2 emissions while providing reliable and affordable electricity

Noble Thermodynamic Systems are focused on applications in carbon-free power production, deep grid-energy storage, enhanced oil recovery, and carbon capture and sequestration.

Power Generation Power generation portfolios in the United States and all around the globe are integrating a growing share of renewable energy sources as grid operators work to overcome reliability and flexibility challenges. As a result, increasing demand for cost-competitive dispatchable power has emerged with the added constraints of aligning with climate change and air pollution reduction goals.

Industrial Sector The ongoing transformation of the electric power market and the need to manage their environmental impact, has revived the interest in self-generation. This is driven mainly by the need to hedge increasing electricity price volatility and by the financial opportunity that distributed assets represent. In an increasingly modernized power grid consumers of all sizes have been enabled to integrate diverse generation sources to manage their electricity use and participate in markets.

Marine Transportation In a push to eliminate the impact of the marine sector on air quality, new MARPOL regulation is pressing the sector into installing new retrofittable exhaust after-treatment technology and using higher quality fuels. These measures impact both the capital and operational expenses of the sector, making it more sensitive to propulsion systems’ performance characteristics regarding fuel consumption and emission ratings.