nir-vana innovation network

Need: European Industry needs to achieve increased energy efficiency and reduce its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and air pollutant emissions through recovery, upgrade and/or conversion of industrial excess (waste) heat and through electrification of heat generation leveraging renewable energies (e.g. solar thermal). Existing heat upgrade technologies (e.g. heat pumps) do not cover industrial size installations, are not sufficiently cost-effective and do not perform for high temperatures.

Proposal: The Consortium has developed an innovative solar technology based on Fresnel collectors that can supply temperatures of <400°C with a power range covered <20 MW at pressures of <120 bar. The technology can be integrated into existing energy systems and uses renewable energy.

The proposal is being coordinated by a German organization at the edge of research and innovation in the area of SHIP (Solar Heat for Industrial Processes). The Consortium consists of technological universities and companies with expertise in industrial heat systems, solar energy, process design and optimization, process intensification, techno-economic analysis, life-cycle assessment.

The aim is to apply the technology at pilot/industrial scale, for an industrial heat upgrade system that will supply one or several specific industrial processes with useful heat in the (sink) temperature range of 90–250°C, extracted from renewable heat sources (i.e. solar thermal from Concentrated Solar Power Installation) as well as excess (waste) heat. The technology is suitable for sectors such as food, chemicals, textiles, polymers, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, cement, metals, etc.

The technology proposed will upgrade lower temperature heat flows, from renewable heat sources, possibly ambient heat or industrial excess (waste) heat, as a cost-efficient way to improve energy efficiency and reduce the GHG emissions.

What will be researched / demonstrated - the consortium will:
- Develop innovative architectures for advanced Fresnel collectors
- Integrate Concentrated Solar Power Systems with industrial heat systems
On the industrial side, the projects will focus on:
1. Scale-up innovative heat upgrade technologies
2. Achieve successful integration of renewable heat sources (solar thermal) as the input heat flow to be further upgraded
3. Reduce the cost of heat upgrade technologies, by improving their performance
4. Demonstrate their use at pilot or industrial scale in an industrial context
5. Study the techno-economic feasibility of long-term integration into industrial installations covering multiple industries.

The Consortium will apply to Horizon Europe calls for a 3 year project:
-HORIZON-CL5-2021-D4-01-04: Full-scale demonstration of heat upgrade technologies with supply temperature in the range 90-160°C (deadline 10/2021)
-HORIZON-CL5-2022-D4-01-04: Development and pilot demonstration of heat upgrade technologies with supply temperature in the range 150-250°C (deadline 09/2021) and EoIs will be accepted until the 31/07/2021.

The Consortium is seeking industrial partners from different sectors (e.g. food, chemicals, textiles, polymers, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, cement, metals, etc.) interested in:
-Processes with temperature in the range of 150-250°C, demonstrating the technology in an industrially relevant environment at pilot scale (but not the actual production system). That would be for a small installation (5– 200 kWth only) that would be as similar as possible to a real industrial environment and available for a short period of time, OR
-Processes with temperature in the range of 90-160°C, demonstrate the technology at full scale in their operational facilities (0.5 – 10 MWth) for several months up to a year.

Requirements for industrial partners:
1) >2,000 m² available space (ground space / good roof space)
2) High thermal energy demand
3) Process temperatures in the range 90-250°C)
4) High irradiation
5) High energy costs

Advantages & innovations

The Concentrated Solar Power-based heat upgrade system will be improved both in terms of economic and technical performance in terms of: - sink output temperature range (90-250°C); - temperature increase between sink inlet and sink outlet temperatures - temperature spread between source and sink temperatures; - flexibility to source input temperature variations; - higher sink thermal power; - higher coefficient of performance; - bigger size; - lower CAPEX (equipment) and operational costs (higher efficiency and lower maintenance). Main advantages for industrial partners are: - Energy savings >> Lower operating expenses (OPEX) - Greenhouse gases and air pollutant emissions reductions >> Regulatory compliance, lower operating expenses (OPEX) - Transition to renewable energy - Access to knowhow on renewable energy - Access to funding for innovative equipment

Stage of development

Available for demonstration

Partner sought

The Consortium is seeking industrial (SME or large industry) partners from different sectors (e.g. food, chemicals, textiles, polymers, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, cement, metals, etc.) interested in one of the following: - For processes with temperature in the range of 150-250°C, demonstrating the technology in an industrially relevant environment at pilot scale (but not the actual production system). That would be for a small installation (5– 200 kWth only) that would be as similar as possible to a real industrial environment and available for a short period of time. OR - For processes with temperature in the range of 90-160°C, demonstrate the technology at full scale in their operational facilities (0.5 – 10 MWth) for several months up to a year. The sought partners will take part in the following activities: - Identifications of needs and review of existing processes - Providing technical specifications with regards to their installations so as to support the design, development and adaptation of the technology to industrial needs - Provision of space required for installation of the solar technology - Support to integration with the demonstration facilities - Operations of the demonstration facilities (at pilot or at full scale) and collection of data regarding operational performance. - Support to activities related to techno-economic assessment.