Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more.
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more.
Industrial heat needs between 100C to 250C produce the same amount of CO2 as all of commercial aviation, also near the same as all the automobile and light duty track traffic. While unseen by many, the need rapidly convert these to green, electric heat is imperative.
Industrial heat pumps offer a solution. Through electrification of industrial heat with heat pumps, major energy use and CO2 production cuts can be made (per anum) in Paper Processing (182 PJ/a,20 Mt/a), Chemical Processing (256 PJ/a, 23 Mt/a), Food Preparation (80 PJ/a, 8 Mt/a), and Refineries/Breweries/Distilleries (11 PJ/a, 1.2 Mt/a). Of these, about half require heat pumps of 10 MWt or less, that is they don’t require large industrial systems.
Current heat pumps are basically limited to 200C at most, and their temperature lift (the low temperature heat to be upgraded to higher heat temperature difference is limited to ~100C. Their efficiencies are limited to 45-60% of theoretical maximum (eta_Carnot).
I am developing a new heat pump concept that offers heat up to 250C, lifts up to 200C, and efficiencies 60-80%. – a major step forward, all in a relatively simple system. It is TRL2 at this point, yet with major EU partners as part of Horizon Grants (announced soon), will be rapidly developed towards commercialization. It is also easily developed through Seed funding. While the project will initially focus on industrial heat pumps, it is also well suited for compact heat pumps, that is domestic heat pumps/coolers, and EV heat pumps. Yet those markets are very established and breaking in will take a high TRL system to entice manufacturers, thus later development.
This is my side hustle. I hold the IP, and a good coffee machine.
Metal is a foundation industry. The energy consumption of the metal casting industry globally is extremely high. Carbon Case: Every year 112MTonnes of metal is cast. Avg. UK Energy burden/tonne is about 55GJ which is >15000kWh CO2/GWh for coal-888tonnes. Majority of this is used in melting and heat treatment. Alloys are usually cast at a temperature 100-200C higher than the melting point. What if we use and produce metal more efficiently wrt to CO2? We have developed a way to process most metal alloys so that they can be cast at a temperature slightly below the melting point in what is known as the semi solid band. Metal cast through this route has exhibited better mechanical properties which can be used towards light weighting and a microstructure that can be heat treated in less time. We have demonstrated a 100C reduction in casting temperature using aluminium alloy in a non optimised conditions. This represents a 6% reduction in in energy consumption. We were also able to show a 9-16% increase in strength of the material cast, making it a reassuring way to overcome quality issues of recycled stock and aid lightweight endeavours. For higher melting point alloys a similar 100C reduction in temperature would represent a higher % of energy savings eg. For steel this would be in the region of 12-14%. The technology is versatile in deployment, scalable, easy to make, and retrofittable in most pre-existing casting set ups and usable with most metal alloys. Manipulating the viscosity upto a point like plasticine, the technology can also be readily adapted to produce extrusions and sheets in a new one step processes. Typically metal is cast into billets in one foundry which are then sent to other foundries for further shaping. This involves a transport and reheat step in the production route which can be eliminated. IP strategy covers >90% of the market. Loads of applications, lets talk :) https://www.caef.eu/statistics/ www.advancedmetalcastings.com
