Transforming waste heat to sustainable energy

Global energy-intensive, high-temperature processing industries such as cement, steel and glass are losing more than 50% of their energy as waste heat during production. This amounts to approximately 400 TWh of power each year, which is almost one seventh of the total European electrical power demand. Despite the availability of technologies to convert waste heat into electricity, the adoption of these solutions at an industry scale has been poor.

However, Tyndall National Institute, based at UCC, is leading a €3m Horizon Europe project to develop a new system that will contribute to energy harvesting from industrial waste heat.

INFERNO, a Horizon Europe funded project, is tackling specific barriers such as efficiency and the cost of renewable technologies. The objective is to develop a new hybrid platform system based on the integration of solidstate devices. This development will significantly contribute to sustainable energy harvesting from industrial waste heat.

The project is led by Dr Kafil M

Razeeb at Tyndall, in collaboration with Technological University Dublin, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, IFW Dresden, Universite de Technologie de Troyes and F6S Ireland Ltd.

This collaboration between European experts in materials research, modelling, cell fabrication, thermoelectricity and electronics, aims to develop new materials and systems for thermal power to electricity conversion. Development efforts will target improvements regarding infraredsensitive, lowband-gap thermophotovoltaic cells and photonic metamaterials, in addition to highperformance thermoelectric generator devices made of earth-abundant materials. Thermophotovoltaics is the direct conversion of radiant power into electricity using the photovoltaic effect, whereas thermoelectrics uses temperature gradient into electricity using the Seebeck effect.

This development will allow this new waste heat recovery system to operate over a wider range of temperatures, from 400ºC to 800ºC, at least 25% more efficiently than the current systems. The primary advantage of the new system is its modularity, without involving any major moving parts.

The INFERNO project will deploy a modular, hybrid energy harvesting system that can be easily integrated into production lines, helping hardto-decarbonise industries improve their system efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Three pilot demonstrations in Ireland, Germany and France will test the integrated hybrid system and its components.

Dr Kafil M Razeeb, Advanced Energy Materials Group, Tyndall, said: “Our aim is to develop a system combining different thermal to electrical energy harvesting technologies which will be tested in real industrial setups. We hope to deploy a system that can be costeffectively retrofitted and integrated for electricity production from industrial waste heat.”

Tyndall National Institute is a leading European deep-tech research centre in integrated ICT (information and communications technology) materials, devices, circuits and systems and a research flagship of University College Cork. Tyndall is Ireland’s largest Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) specialising in both electronics and photonics.

With a network of over 200 industry partners and customers worldwide, Tyndall is focused on delivering human and economic impact from excellence in research. Tyndall is home to a multidisciplinary research community of over 600 people of 52 nationalities, including over 160 postgraduates.

Looking good

Wilo’s Derek Elton and Michael O’Herlihy most certainly looked the part as they set off towards the first tee at the annual CIBSE Ireland golf outing in Luttrellstown recently. However, not much was said about the golf on completion of their round!

Best of luck Fergus

Having won the Irish national kickboxing title recently, Fergus Daly, Sales Director, Hoctor Refrigeration Services, is now in serious training for the forthcoming WAKO European Championships.

He will represent Ireland at the tournament in the Olympic Stadium in Athens in November. Looking at Fergus’ Linkedin profile pic, it is very hard to visualise him in his fighting attire. Best of luck to you, Fergus.

Training critical to skills

Given the severe shortage of skilled personnel in the building services engineering sector, Designer Group leads by example and “grows its own”. It has an ongoing training, mentorship and support programme that continuously turns out skilled professionals.

Pictured below recently at the company’s Training Academy are the 12 latest recruits to join the programme.

How ‘green’ is our electricity?

There is no denying that, on the face of it, the latest SEAI energy report for the first six months of 2024 is very encouraging. For instance, almost half (48.9%) of utility scale electricity generation was from renewable sources. This is a remarkable achievement.

However, during the same period electricity imports were up 84%. That is not so good. More to the point, do we know how much of this electricity was generated by renewable means? Was any of it? Is it a factor when making the purchasing decision?

If we are to get an accurate picture of how “green” our electricity consumption is, we also need to know the renewable content of the electricity we import.

Dates for SEAI Energy Show 2025 announced

Wednesday and Thursday, 26 and 27 March 2025, have now been announced as the dates for next year’s SEAI Energy Show. This event is essential for anyone who is working, or interested in, sustainable and renewable energy. The venue is once again the Main Hall, RDS, Dublin 4.

The format is unique in that it includes an exhibition, seminars from leading experts, technology demonstrations, product awards, retrofit skills demonstrations and multiple networking opportunities.

It is the only multi-discipline business event for the energy sector in Ireland and is a must-visit for all energy professionals looking to network, learn, build business opportunities and experience the latest innovative technologies.

For suppliers to the sector, it is an ideal opportunity to reach specifiers and other key decision-makers who will attend.

Double birthday celebration for Shay and Ger

These two young ladies surprised Shay Kiernan and Ger Hutchinson with a combined birthday cake at the most recent BTU outing in Laytown/Bettystown Golf Club.

Given that the sum total of both their ages is very obviously 120 years, I thought it prudent not to ask them for their respective individual ages. Better safe than sorry! Belated birthday wishes to you guys.