(Sharecast News) - Inspirit Energy has agreed a letter of support for the development of a waste heat recovery system, it announced on Tuesday, following a successful model design and application demonstration with marine and industrial power system supplier Volvo Penta.
The AIM-traded firm said the waste heat recovery system used its proprietary 'Sterling' engine technology, explaining that its compact nature enabled it to be positioned in the exhaust system after the catalytic converters, with the energy being directly transferred as an electrical output.

During the demonstration, the three-stage heat recycling process increased engine efficiency by about 20%, driven by waste heat from a Volvo Penta D13 series engine.

In addition to the efficiency improvement and heat reduction, the waste heat recovery system was also expected to have the additional significant benefit of reducing noise.

The board said the letter of support validated Inspirit's technology, and underlined its ability to capitalise on the changing market and greater demand from consumers for environmentally friendly, energy efficient and cost-saving products.

It said the technology would be tested over the next 12 months, and if successful, could lead to a test of the system in a Volvo engine, to confirm the efficiency and output.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the team at Volvo Penta on the development of a waste heat recovery system utilising the Inspirit Sterling engine technology and the knowledge and technical expertise of our teams," said chairman John Gunn.

"We believe the technology will have applications in a wide range of other sectors including commercial and performance automotive, marine and solar and we are hopeful that this project will provide a gateway to working on future projects with the Volvo Group"

At 1211 GMT, shares in Inspirit Energy Holdings were up 160% at 0.13p.