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Integrated system of modular solar thermal that can freeze without damaged coupled with a compact solid state heat pump (no refrigerant) coupled with a novel steam heat pump.
About
Our system will reduce energy costs and carbon in the food and drink sector and utilises innovation from 3 start-ups and is about to be trialled in an Innovate UK project at a creamery in Cumbria. In dairy for example In 2022, UK dairy saw energy-driven inflation up to 42% and in 2023 energy accounted for 39% of cost for producing butter, skimmed milk powder, mild cheddar and whey powder/butter(Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board-AHDB).
Reducing energy costs of dairy processes is essential for both producers and consumers.
Dairy requires a large range of temperatures for scalding, pasteurisation, UHT and sterilisation from 35°C up to 150°C (Source;Food&Drink Federation), 50% of the energy is process heat, mainly from expensive carbon-emitting fossil fuels and subject to volatile energy prices.
Several low-carbon heat technologies exist but have limitations -
1.Photovoltaic panels produce sun-dependent zero-carbon energy at ~ 20%efficiency but often system size is capped due to grid capacity limitations.
2.Solar thermal panels produce sun-dependent zero-carbon heat at ~60%efficiency. Cold regions use antifreeze heat transfer fluid, limiting system size to not overheat and degrade the antifreeze on the sunniest days, so are undersized for cloudy days, reducing yield. Multiple panels are plumbed together introducing failure points.
3.Propane and CO2 heat pumps only efficiently provide heat up to ~75°C, with average coefficient of performance(COP) of ~3.
4.Current steam heat pumps are very large and/or very costly and with COPs ~3-4. Spilling in Germany has a system but is costly(\>£500/kW).
Our system integrates 4 innovations to provide steam and hot water for pasteurisation and sterilisation.
Innovation 1&2-- Soltropy Ltd's IOT-enabled, modular solar thermal system has no interconnections, freezes and overheats without damage and doesn't use antifreeze. Latest innovation is at TRL 7 with MVP running since 2019 and was developed with help from Innovate UK and Heriot-Watt University. IOT connectivity is at TRL3 and was developed with CENSIS.
Innovation 3-- TCS Ltd's solid-state thermoelectric heat pump utilises the Peltier effect offering silent, maintenance-free operation. It can achieve COPs as high as 20 with temperatures up 99°C. It is currently at TRL7 and was funded by BEIS.
Innovation 4-- Mechapres Ltd's steam heat pump has a COP=5 and has integrated phase-changing heat storage to utilise solar thermal/waste heat, and off-peak electricity. It's currently at TRL6 and uses non-toxic water as the refrigerant.
Key Benefits
Our integrated system will reduce energy costs, reduce carbon emissions and help toward ESG targets.
Applications
Our target market is food and drink, basically all the industries that require pasteurisation and sterilisation of equipment.