Icarus Creating an absorption system to generate power from waste heat in industrial settings Overview The aim of ICARUS is to create innovative and environmentally friendly CO2/lubricant absorption technology for power generation from low temperature industrial waste heat to reduce emissions and costs. The ICARUS project will create absorption power generation technology for low temperature (60-120C) heat. This will enable us to create a waste-heat power generation system for industrial (chemical and cement) applications. By doing this, the absorption power generation system created will offer greatly improved environmental performance due to improved efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions at a cost that is affordable to the end-user. This will lead to significant economic and societal benefits to manufacturers. The SME consortium will target up to 10 % of the EU manufacturing SMEs operating within the Chemicals and Cement Industry within a 5 year period.
Duet Heavy Duty, Dual Fuel, Demonstrator Engine Achieving Future EU Emissions Compliance with 23% Carbon Reduction Overview The project has been brought about by the requirement for a reliable dual fuel, diesel and natural gas (NG), engine system that meets and exceeds future EU IV+ and US 2010 legislation. HGV operators, NG providers and EU governments have already invested many £millions to date in NG infrastructure and refueling sites. However, there has been limited uptake in the conversion of entire fleets of vehicles to natural gas. The DUET dual-fuel system will offer customers the unique assurance that the vehicle will continue to operate normally on 100% diesel should the natural gas infrastructure fail in any way. The avoidance of such opportunity cost (or cost-of-failure) makes dual-fuel the only option for most long-distance heavy-haulage operators. Without such operators adopting natural gas, it is doubtful that the use of natural gas as a road-fuel will grow as much as the UK and EU Governments expect in order to contribute to committed reductions in transportation carbon.
Depict Device Enhanced Performance of Integrated Concentrator Overview Multi-junction CPV cells have a much higher photon to electricity conversion efficiency than silicon-based PV cells. However, multi-junction CPV cells are at risk of mechanical fatigue and degradation of performance at high operational temperatures due to differences of coefficients of thermal expansion of each sub-cell. DEPICT Project Results The partners attended the 9th International Conference on Applied Energy, ICAE2017, 21-24 August 2017, Cardiff, UK. The conference presentation was entitled, “Experimental characterization and multi-physics simulation of a triple-junction cell in a novel hybrid III:V concentrator photovoltaic–thermoelectric receiver design with secondary optical element”, Tracy Sweet.
Basse An energy harvesting building envelope The BASSE project (Building active steel skin) seeks to develop a building envelope considering biometric principles to make the building envelope act in a similar way to nature in the way that human skin is refrigerated by a fluid; blood. Energy will be harvested by a fluid which will be circulating through the steel skin of the façade and will be stored and managed to improve the efficiency of the building. The prototype will be based on: The integration of a heat exchanger system into a steel based envelope system such as sandwich panels (steel sheets with insulation), to act as an energy absorbent and therefore to actively and dynamically draw the energy gain from the skin. Making the captured energy available for distribution into the building as thermal energy through the integrated heat pumping system. An intelligent mechanism will also be integrated into the system to control the temperature of the steel skin and to effectively manage and distribute the gained energy.
Prestege The Prestege project is the development of a cost-effective, innovative printing process for the manufacture of energy-harvesting thermoelectric generators (TEGs). The TEGs that are produced will be integrated into advanced, energy-efficient wireless sensor networks for the monitoring of district heat pipes. The Prestege project will deliver a device that will harvest 3 mW to recharge a lithium battery, increasing its lifetime to over 10 years (current Li-ion battery technology in this application has a lifetime of 6-24 months). Additionally, district heating providers would like to be able to monitor in real time the demand for hot water. The inspection wells that are distributed every 150 metres are ideal locations to position the sensors, enabling the measurement of water height, temperature and flow rate.
Powerdriver The Powerdriver project aimed to develop an innovative, environmentally friendly thermoelectric power generation system for automotive and marine applications that is powered by exhaust waste thermal energy to reduce fuel consumption. The project further aimed to advance thermoelectric chemistry and structural understanding by creating highly innovative nano-structured, functionally graded and multi-layer TEG structured compounds targeting commercial competitiveness in waste heat energy recovery applications. The waste heat being used to produce electricity to power on-board applications in automotive and marine sectors. Goals: Overcome the limitations relating to the production of an automotive and marine power generation system by integrating cutting-edge nano-structured silicide and functionally graded telluride thermo-electric materials into a heat exchanger assembly that will enable electrical power to be generated from the exhaust system without affecting back-pressure or engine balance. Improve fuel efficiency for automotive and marine applications. Reduce emissions (CO2, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulates).
Maxcop The MaxCOP project aims to develop a smart thermoelectric cooling system with maximum coefficient of performance (COP); it will be an efficient system for reducing the amount of energy used in temperature control applications using thermoelectrics. The project will significantly improve the system performance and efficiency of thermoelectric cooling systems, creating market-leading technology which will be sold into a range of industrial sectors.
H2esot H2ESOT is an ambitious project to progress scientific and technical know-how with organic thermoelectric materials. It is expected to be a challenging project and if successful, will provide disruptive technology in the area of sustainability. To achieve this, the current power generation system will have to undergo dramatic structural change allowing far greater efficiency, and flexibility of use/generation, to achieve minimal CO2 generation by 2030 at the very latest, ensuring security of energy supply and competitiveness. The development of a H2ESOT Roadmap to Commercialisation for low cost organic thermoelectric devices would significantly contribute towards the expected impacts listed in the 2012 work programme.
