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Project:
SUSTAINABLE REVOLUTION at ICAM Toulouse

A translated article publiched in the French press LA DÉPÊCHE 29/10/2024

Un projet de moteur révolutionnaire fédère toutes les énergies
À Brassac, dans le Tarn, toute une communauté se fédère pour mettre au point un projet de moteur révolutionnaire, fonctionnant sur le principe des variations de chaleur.

Two students from ICAM and their professor visited Fab d'Oc in Brassac to present their work to Nils Karlberg. Nils has been working for years on a revolutionary engine called the Green Revolution Energy Converter (GREC), or in French - convertisseur révolutionnaire d'énergie verte.
This engine, inspired by the Stirling engine, operates through heat variations, causing volume changes in revolving disks. These generate energy through pressure differentials, which are then converted into mechanical work and ultimately used to generate electricity.
The meeting began with a simple demonstration by Nils, where he used a jar filled with air placed in a fridge to explain the thermodynamic engine principle: as the air cools, pressure differences activate a piston, due to the heat distribution in a closed volume. The engine works solely by utilizing existing heat and temperature differentials — no oil, electricity, or nuclear energy involved!

A closed system with a moving boundary

A jar with a piston illustrates the behavior of a closed system with a moving boundary

Pierre Le Provost and Michael Peyrony are the first Occitan students to work on this project after the Swedish teams. Their initial task was to analyze the work of their Swedish counterparts, who had conducted several studies leading from a patent filed in Sweden. As final-year engineering students at ICAM, they aim to work in renewable energy. Since the beginning of the school year, they have been fully committed to the GREC project, and they will continue their research until January, with the goal of demonstrating that this engine is worthy of financial backing.

Two students and their professor at Fab d'Oc in Brassac

From the left: Jean-Pierre Fradin, Pierre Le Provost, Nils Karlberg and Michael Peyrony at FabdOc in Brassac, France

They started by presenting their analysis of various reports from Linköping University, covering prototype designs, heat transfer coefficients, fluid dynamics, pressure differentials, and how to transfer heat as efficiently as possible. Pierre and Michael have done extensive analytical work, identifying the progress made, the successful tests, but also the gaps in the Swedish studies due to time or resource constraints.

Analysis of all GREC-sustainability reports from Linköping University

All reports downloadable in references at bottom of this page

Pleased with this condensed analysis, Nils Karlberg congratulated the two students and provided some additional insights, such as using a speaker to harness energy from the engine. Dr. Jean-Pierre Fradin, their professor and research director at ICAM Toulouse, noted that some issues remain unresolved in the Swedish work, such as imprecise infrared measurements and certain hypotheses related to thermal and fluidic modeling and simulations. The researchers discussed potential improvements needed to progress toward a prototype.
The two students also presented their basic working model—a highly simplified prototype created using software simulations. They tested different configurations involving various materials, heat flows, and geometric parameters, allowing them to establish a reference case and conduct parametric studies. They proposed solutions to optimize the system, always with the objective of securing funding to develop the most efficient prototype possible.
Pierre Raynaud, an engineer and manager of the AD2C workshop specializing in design and construction coordination, was also present. He contributed his expertise as a local collaborator on Nils' project. Nils hopes that with ICAM's support, funding will be secured to continue working on this innovative and revolutionary project.

Original French article: Marc Durand, Brassac

Proofreading: Jean-Pierre Fradin, Nils Karlberg

Translation: Nils Karlberg

References:


The GREC is a new technological solution to tackle climate change. Technologists at Linköping University, Sweden, and at ICAM Toulouse, France, are pushing the challenge of a transition to fossil free energy systems. Their theoretical research, construction, building, and experiments with the GREC Lab Models are very important steps in a climate positive project that will feed several successful research projects over time to reduce the warming of our athmosphere and to reduce CO2 and other pollutants in our athmosphere.
Please feel free to call or email:

Contact information at nilsinside AB
Nils Karlberg nils@nilsinside.com, tel +33 608 53 15 93, theory & technical questions
Sophia Karlberg sophia@nilsinside.com , strategy & admin questions

The GREC Project presentation