Wallace Technologies joins the TEAM technology incubator within the Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering Center. This is part of the development and improvement of the efficiency and performance of Stirling technology for energy production and storage.
What does Wallace Technologies offer?
The challenges related to energy production and its decarbonization are the major challenges for the coming years. It is in this context that the startup Wallace Technologies is developing, offering a solution based on Stirling technology. This technology, invented over 200 years ago by Robert Stirling, is a thermodynamic machine that allows the conversion of heat from any energy source (hydrogen, biogas, agricultural waste, solar, nuclear, conventional fuel, etc.) into electricity.
The offer from Wallace Technologies
Wallace Technologies’ project focuses on one element of Stirling technology: the regenerator.
Firstly, this element is reinvented and functionally repositioned within the system’s architecture to increase its overall efficiency. Secondly, the patented internal architecture of the regenerator is redesigned to offer a high-compactness heat exchanger.
The offer is available in 2 products:
- A high-compactness exchanger (3500 to 5000 m2/m3)
- A multi-energy compatible Stirling generator
Application cases
The potential applications for the high-compactness exchanger are numerous, ranging from cooling embedded electronics for aeronautical and space domains to industrial gas treatment devices and infrared camera cooling.
Applications for the Stirling system include decarbonized electricity production, energy storage via the thermal inertia of a molten metal tank, and spatial micro-nuclear power, similar to the American KRUSTY project.
The TEAM technology incubator relies on the expertise and resources of the Mines Saint-Étienne engineering school to support the creation of innovative technological companies. Created in 2004 on the Georges Charpak Provence campus, and in 2016 on the Saint-Étienne campus, TEAM represents: 60 projects supported, an 80% survival rate after 5 years, and €3.1 M raised in 2021.
