2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the start of our research and development of engines powered by externally supplied heat. Together with a fellow entrepreneur, we began our first design studies in 2001 and gathered specialist knowledge from literature, relevant conferences and universities. Due to the lack of sufficient internet access, these were the only sources of information available for building up specialist knowledge, apart from patent searches. As a result, development progress was slow and laborious. What is possible today with a click of the mouse was, at the time, a rather fateful search through mountains of paper to finally find the right answers with a little luck.
A rocky road to initial small successes
Looking back, I have to say that initially, ‘only the courage of the ignorant’ was the driving force behind overcoming numerous hurdles. After all, it took five years before the first machine even moved, let alone delivered any performance. Another ten years passed, during which the project brought us only tiny successes – just enough to keep us from throwing in the towel. With a great deal of effort, we finally succeeded in presenting a machine on the test bench that was judged to be outstanding by experts with a penchant for compromise. Upon critical reflection, however, I lost the courage to bring this product to market. I promptly halted further development based on the thermodynamics of the well-known Stirling process – a difficult decision after 15 years of trusting in a technology that has been around for more than 200 years.
2016: A new beginning after a discovery
According to calculations, a promising idea emerged as a solution to the accumulated problems. We departed from the thermodynamic specifications of the Stirling process and implemented changes similar to the Ericsson piston process. By early 2018, the first machine on the test bench had already confirmed our calculation results. We christened the new technology the ‘alphagamma® process’ and were very happy with the new performance, especially the pleasing characteristics in terms of endurance, efficiency and smooth running.
After numerous market-driven adjustments, several hundred thousand operating hours on the test benches and positive feedback from our customers, we now know that we have found the right solution. I would like to thank my staff for their outstanding performance, loyalty and, above all, confidence during difficult times. Thanks to our joint and tireless efforts, we have created a product that is only at the beginning of a new market for environmentally friendly energy generation. Today, together with partners from all over the world, we are able to contribute to technological developments for the use of heat from biomass, biogas, thermal batteries, hydrogen and ammonia.