Capstone Turbine
Public | |
Traded as | NASDAQ: CPST |
Industry | Industrial Electrical Equipment |
Founded | 1988 |
Headquarters | Chatsworth, California, United States |
Key people | Darren R. Jamison (CEO) |
Products | Microturbines |
Revenue | $133.1 Million (Period Ending 31-Mar-14) |
Number of employees | 225[1] |
Website | www.capstoneturbine.com |
Capstone Turbine Corporation, incorporated in 1988, is a California based gas turbine manufacturer that specializes in microturbine power along with heating and cooling cogeneration systems. Key to the Capstone design is its use of foil bearings, which provides maintenance and fluid-free operation for the lifetime of the turbine and reduces the system to a single moving part. This also eliminates the need for any cooling or other secondary systems.
The company sells micro turbine generators for electrical power generation, cogeneration, biogas-fueled renewable energy, and hybrid vehicle power. Capstone has Microturbine offerings in the following sizes: 30 kW, 60 kW, 65 kW, 200 kW, 600 kW, 800 kW, and 1 MW. Multiple turbines can be combined with Capstone's APS or Advanced Power Server to create multiple megawatt installations. Capstone is a supplier of Microturbines to UTC Power's PureComfort System product.
Capstone turbines have generated some interest as the range extender for hybrid cars. Their light weight, small size, and quick starting time make them ideal as "instant-on" backup power to recharge the main batteries. An example of a hybrid vehicle is the Capstone CMT-380, with a 30 kW gas turbine generator running on diesel, that recharges Li-Poly batteries when necessary. The CMT-380 has a proposed range of 80 miles on battery alone, but when combined with the micro turbine that range is pushed to over 500+ miles.
Capstone is a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Combined Heat and Power Partnership, which is committed to improving the efficiency of the nation's energy infrastructure and reducing emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. A UL-Certified ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 company, Capstone is headquartered in the Los Angeles area with sales and/or service centers in United States, Mexico, South America, Singapore, China and the United Kingdom.
See also
- Distributed generation
- Brayton cycle
- Cogeneration (Combined Heat and Power, or CHP)
- Trigeneration (Combined Cooling Heating and Power, or CCHP)
References
- ↑ "Company Profile for Capstone Turbine Corp (CPST)". Retrieved 2008-10-22.
External links
- Case Study of Ritz Carlton in San Francisco using UTC Power's PureComfort System powered by Capstone Microturbines
- CMT-380 Data Sheet
- Company website
- NASA's oil-free turbine research program
- Capstone Turbine Official Site