News & Updates

Brayton-designed APG-Neuros gas turbine turbo blower

Final testing of the Brayton-designed APG-Neuros gas turbine turbo blower took place this week. This unit is designed for wastewater treatment plants, where it converts waste gases that would otherwise be flared into critical airflow needed throughout the facility. Milestones include overall efficiency (LHV to shaft) of 40% and measured NOX and CO2 emissions levels …

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Sustainable Thermal Advanced Cooling (STAC)

Brayton-designed turbomachinery is being successfully deployed within a district cooling system developed by STAC Technology. STAC (Sustainable Thermal Advanced Cooling), a Denmark-based company specializing in the use of sustainable water as a refrigerant, aims to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions on a massive scale by providing next generation cooling solutions and expanding the existing …

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Brayton Commitment To Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion

Brayton Energy is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we believe that a diverse team with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences enables us to deliver our best results. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or …

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Pumped thermal energy storage (PTES)

With photovoltaic solar panels (PV) being the least expensive way to add new capacity to the electrical grid, the energy sector is eagerly seeking affordable technologies that can take excess power during the day, store it, and then dispatch it after the sun has gone down. Pumped thermal energy storage (PTES) solutions can use electricity …

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BRAYTON ENERGY MANUFACTURES HEAT EXCHANGERS WITH NEXT-GEN NICKEL-BASED SUPERALLOYS

Brayton Energy is partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to manufacture and experimentally measure the mechanical properties of emerging high-temperature-capable materials in form factors suitable for novel heat exchanger applications. This US Department of Energy funded effort seeks to examine the fundamental and practical thin-foil characteristics of Haynes® 282® alloy and Inconel® alloy 740H®, two …

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Portable Nuclear Power Module Program Launches at Brayton

Brayton continues our 16 year development efforts in the areas of gas cooled nuclear reactors. Our first major project, at the formation of the company 16 years ago, led to key developments in the area of pebble bed reactors, compact heat exchangers, and turbomachinery design. Over the years, Brayton has worked with many companies, government …

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US DOE GEN3 Advanced Concentrated Solar Power Program Moves into Phase 2

Brayton successfully meet the milestones of Phase 1 and received the green-light to proceed with the Phase 2 scope. Our expanding CSP team is gearing up for a battery of critical tests this summer, including the high temperature CO2 to particle heat exchanger testing and solar receiver testing.

Brayton Wins SETO Award to Advance High Temperature Heat Exchangers

Brayton’s award entitled Creep and Fatigue Characterization of High Strength Nickel Alloys Thin Sections in Advanced CO2 Heat Exchangers will expand our data base and allow more accurate life analysis of high temperature heat exchangers. Brayton’s Unit-Cell technology enables extremely compact and light weight microchannel heat exchanger designs. Working with Oak Ridge National Labs, Brayton …

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Brayton Wins International Contract for Alternative Energy Gas Turbine

Brayton received a competitive award from the BIRD Foundation, a joint US/Israel initiative. In the project, Brayton will develop a special purpose gas turbine for converting thermal energy from biomass and thermal energy from other sources such as concentrated solar power. https://www.birdf.com/bird-energy-approved-projects/

Brayton Wins XTech Awards for US Army, Presents at AUSA Conference

Competing in a ‘Shark Tank’ pitch competition hosted by the US Army, Brayton has received two competitive awards for our advanced UAV turboprop gas turbine. See Braytonites Antoine Corbeil and Chad Everbeck pitch the design in this YouTube interview from the end of 2019. This engine offers light weight, superior SFC, and compactness for the …

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TF50F Combustor Improvement Program Meets Targets in Full Engine Test

Brayton has worked with Vericor, MTU, and Honeywell for over two years leading the design team to introduce an ultra-low emissions, lean-premixed combustor for Vericor’s TF50F aero-derivative industrial gas turbine. Vericor Power Systems’s gas turbine engines have a venerated reputation, earned from years of service in industrial power generation, mechanical drive, and marine applications. The …

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Brayton Receives ARPA-E Award for Long Duration Utility Scale Energy Storage Project

Our award, under their “DAYS” initiative (Duration Addition to electricitY Storage) is entitled Improved Laughlin-Brayton Cycle Energy Storage. This 2 ½ year advanced development project will design and test a novel high efficiency turbomachine to enable Professor Robert Laughlin’s Pumped Thermal Energy Storage concept to achieve competitive efficiencies and cost. Brayton will be working with …

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Brayton Receives Award from the Air Force Research Lab for Turbocharged Wankel Engine

In SBIR Phase 1 and 2 projects, Brayton designed, built and tested a tiny turbocharger integrated with a high-speed alternator. The novel design incorporated a new low-cost air bearing system, for exceptionally lightweight and oil-free maintenance. Building on the success of our SBIR, Brayton will proceed to integrate the turbo-alternator with a 40 hp Wankel …

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Brayton Receives Two Major CSP Awards

Brayton has received two highly competitive grant awards from the US Department of Energy. The major SunShot GEN-3 Initiative is intended to be the spur commercialization of utility-scale concentrated solar power combined with energy storage to provide firm renewable power for the utility. In the major Category 1, Brayton will lead a team to develop …

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Brayton Receives Award on the ARPAe INTEGRATE Initiative

The US ARPAe Agency was created to cultivate new high risk, high reward energy technologies. This newest competitive award seeks to create a class of ultra-high efficiency power blocks for distributed electrical generation. With a target of 70% natural gas to electric conversion efficiency at the 100 kWe power level, this ultra clean power module …

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Brayton’s Combustor Demonstrates Ultra Low Emissions for Chinese Gas Turbine

Brayton provides services for the gas turbine industry, developing low emission combustors for existing and new engines. In 2017, Brayton re-rated an old KG2 gas turbine engine for a Chinese client, cutting their CO and NOx emissions by a factor of four. In subsequent work, Brayton collaborated in the design of an all-new gas turbine …

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Brayton presenting at MIT Center for Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES)

Jim Kesseli will be presenting on topics related to the challenges and future of modular gas cooled nuclear power. This is an advanced inherently safe technology. The MIT Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES) is conducting a new…

Brayton receives award for ‘GENSETS’ : Phase 2

Brayton has received the go-ahead from ARPAe to build and test its 1 kWe combined heat and power generator module. The team passed the highly competitive gate, with a strong technical performance highlighted by component testing.

Bladon Jets opens new 10,000 unit/year microturbine factory

Bladon Jets, LTD, has successfully completed testing of their 12 kWe microturbine genest for telecom power generation. While Brayton provided significant contributions to the microturbine design during the formative period of its development, the credit for this major accomplishment goes to the Bladon team.

Brayton Ships Ultra-Low Emission Combustors to China

Brayton designed and tested two different MW-class gas turbine combustors to a Chinese client for retrofit. These combustors were designed to replace existing oil-fired combustors in older stand-by gas turbine gensets, which when operated had very high NOx and CO emissions.

Brayton Receives SunShot Award from DOE “Solar Receiver Redesign Enables CSP to Beam Ahead”

Next generation concentrating solar power (CSP) system designs use supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) turbine power cycles to more efficiently convert solar thermal energy to electricity and to reduce the cost of CSP technology.

Brayton Energy Selected for DOE Success Story

Brayton Energy successfully completed the design and quality tests in support of a concentrating solar receiver for a 10 MWe power plant. The CSP power plant employs the highly efficient supercritical carbon dioxide cycle and is expected to approach thermal to electric efficiency of 50% at normal rating conditions.

Brayton Enters Air Force Prize Competition

Building on two decades of successful microturbine development, Brayton Energy is designing an ultra-light-weight turbo-shaft gas turbine engine for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Brayton Receives Follow-on Project to Build and Test SCO2 Recuperator

The National Energy Technology Lab (NETL) has awarded a contract modification to proceed to build and test a nominally 250 kWe recuperator for a commercial super critical carbon dioxide power plant. This next step builds on the success of prior awards wherein the design and sub-system tests were performed.

Brayton awarded US Navy project for compressed air energy system

Brayton Energy received the award from the US Navy’s Broad Area Announcement (BAA) for our proposal “Compressed Air Energy Storage for Island Naval Bases”. The program is coupled to Brayton’s ongoing Navy project to develop a 1 MW-electric CAES expander system, employing our undersea air storage technology.

Brayton Energy Awarded Competitive Contract to Reduce the Cost of Solar Power

The key to low-cost solar energy could lie in the co-development of an advanced power cycle, a high-temperature thermal energy storage system,…

Brayton received SBIR Phase II to continue development of advanced solar salt system

Under the US DOE’s SBIR program, Brayton received the Phase II award to build a second generation ‘salt coupler’. Brayton’s solar salt coupler is an improved system for solar trough systems which employ molten salt for energy storage.

Brayton expands combustor test facilities for small gas turbines

Through a series of major combustion programs at Brayton over the past year, Brayton has received funding to open a new combustion test cell.

Brayton Awarded SunShot Apollo Contract

Brayton Energy has received award notification for the highly competitive SunShot Apollo project from the US Department of Energy. This project will further Brayton’s earlier SunShot receiver work, leading to the development of a break-through technology in concentrating solar power.

Brayton Awarded ARPAe GENSETs Contract

Brayton Energy has received notification of award for ARPAe’s major initiative to develop a 1-kWe residential genset for combined electric and thermal power generation. The target specs are for 1 kW-electric, with an overall energy recovery efficiency of 80%, including heat captured above 80°C . (175°F).

Brayton Awarded DOE Contract for Key Molten Salt Storage Component

Brayton Energy has received award notification for a contract through the Small Business Innovative Research Initiative (SBIR). The Phase II project will continue result in field testing of a low-cost, highly reliable flexible coupler critical to…

Brayton Awarded Air Force UAV Project

Brayton Energy has receive notice of award for a Phase II contract, through the Small Business Innovative Research Initiative (SBIR). This is a continuation of work performed in 2013-2014, culminating in the build and test of an advanced microturbine UAV.

Gas Turbine Powered Kenworth Truck Launched

ICR Turbine Engine Company, (ICRTec), Brayton’s client and affiliate has introduced the ICR350, an advanced gas turbine propulsion system for class-8 trucks. The engine, co-developed by Brayton incorporates a ceramic hot section, achieving over 40% efficiency over a wide power range.