Quote:
Originally Posted by NiHaoMike
Connect a small car engine to an industrial electric motor, then add heat exchangers to recover as much heat as you can. If you spin an induction motor above synchronous speed, it becomes a generator.
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Good start, now carry it further...
If you were to estimate the gallons used per hour of your hypothetical setup(imagine small car mileage) then convert it to BTUs you might have a useful idea of the total heat & electrical power output. Figure maybe 10% to 15% efficiency for the electricity generated and 85% to 90% efficiency for the heat portion.
Or, just use power bills to know the amount of power you and your co-consumer use per day, and figure backwards to the fuel rate and engine size required.
See? Then it starts to get interesting...
-AC_Hacker
PS: As for myself, I'm thinking along the line of an older, small, 2 cyl, low rpm marine engine.