Jim Kesseli

Biography

 As president of Brayton, Jim provides technical and managerial support for all of the company’s projects. Jim has worked in the field of energy conversion systems for 30 years, contributing to advancements in small gas turbines, low emission combustion systems, and recuperators. Jim began his career at Lockheed/Sanders, working on gas turbines, solar-dynamic space power, thermal storage, Stirling engines, and alkali metal heat pipes. From 1992 until 2001, Jim led the Ingersoll-Rand/NREC Energy Systems Business Unit and was responsible for the technical direction of the PowerWorks 70 and 250-kW microturbines, recuperators, and other advanced energy system development programs. Under Jim’s leadership, Ingersoll-Rand and NREC successfully introduced a line of microturbines, the WR21 recuperator, and the Siemens-Westinghouse hybrid fuel cell gas turbine, and participated in several gas turbine design programs for commercial and military clients. From 2001 to 2003, Jim was Ingersoll-Rand’s Director of New Product Development and Director of Advanced Technology. During that period he led the high-efficiency ceramic turbine development, introduced innovations in combined heat and power, advancements in low-emission combustion for alternative fuels, and developments in recuperators. Jim holds 17 patents relating to recuperators, combustors, and gas turbines. He is the ASME chair for the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) Microturbines and Small Gas Turbine Committee, serving since 2002. Jim received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MSME from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Research Interest

 Green Energy,Green Chemistry, Sustainability, renewable resources, biomass, biofuel, Green Engineering, green industrial applications, green investments, green process, green energy, biomaterials, nanotechnology