Project description
Waste heat recovery in high-temperature industries
High-temperature processing industries face a significant challenge: the underutilisation of waste heat, resulting in lost energy and economic potential. The EU-funded Smartrec aims to make it easier to economically recover waste heat. By developing a standardised, modular solution for heat recovery and thermal storage, Smartrec offers a flexible approach to valorise medium to high-grade waste heat across different industries and temperatures. This ground-breaking project seeks to bridge the gap between environmental concerns and economic viability, paving the way for a more sustainable future in industrial processing. A pilot Smartrec system will be constructed and deployed in secondary aluminium recycler and/or ceramic processing, which suffer from batch-based operations and corrosive flue gases spanning a wide temperature range.
Objective
Waste heat is a problem common to high temperature processing industries as a significantly underused resource, often due to challenges in economic heat valorisation. Secondary aluminium recycling and ceramic processing were identified as key examples with economically recoverable waste heat. Several challenges are inherent; these processes are batch-based rather than continuous with corrosive particulate-laden flue gas over a wide temperature range. The Smartrec system meets these challenges by development of a standard, modular solution for integration of heat recovery with thermal storage that valorises medium to high grade waste heat, adaptable to different temperatures and industries. Following end-user analysis and characterisation of exhaust streams and waste products, full life cycle costing and assessment will be carried out with candidate molten salts selected for thermal storage and heat transfer fluid, validated by corrosion testing. A custom heat pipe heat exchanger will be modelled and designed around the requirements of heat transport capacity wick structure and capable of heat exchange with a molten salt pumping loop. This loop will include dual media thermocline thermal storage system with cost/system modelling, validation and instrumentation incorporated. A pilot Smartrec system will be constructed and deployed in a secondary aluminium recycler and/or ceramic processor valorising high grade heat for continuous energy-intensive salt-cake recycling. Smartrec will be validated by integration with existing systems with >6 months operation including a fully developed instrumentation framework. A knowledge-based tool will be developed containing all relevant Smartrec parameters and information to model the system fully and allow users to determine their requirements, potential benefits and integrate Smartrec into their own systems via an open access workshop hosted by the consortium.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste managementwaste treatment processesrecycling
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsfossil energynatural gas
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrypost-transition metals
- engineering and technologymaterials engineering
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
S40 2UB Chesterfield
United Kingdom
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.