Eastern England Full Steam Ahead

This project aims to develop novel equipment to reduce steam production costs and emissions in food processing, essential for sterilization, cooking, pasteurization, drying, and more.

Mechapres is a Cambridge-based startup, developing a patented compact steam-generating heat pump with integrated thermal storage for Food & Drink manufacturing. This system recycles waste heat to produce steam at 50% lower cost than conventional fossil-fuel boilers, while completely abating scope 1 CO2 emissions.

Current solutions rely on large centralised units connecting different processing lines. Integration costs (e.g. heat exchangers, piping) can reach 100% of Heat Pump CapEx. This hinders the viability of small to medium-scale systems typical of Food&Drink. Instead of large, custom-built centralized systems connecting multiple processes, modular, decentralized small-scale units with standardized components integrated at single processing lines are more cost-effective. Less engineering complexity, less piping, lower losses.

Mechapres is working toward this, creating a compact steam-generating heat pump. This project will enable Mechapres to adapt existing prototype components and develop new ones, creating 3 modular plug-and-play retrofit integrations for common food processing applications in Eastern England.

The National Centre for Food Manufacturing will provide guidance and support in assessing the solution's replicability across Eastern England. Tastebuds Collective a leading Food & Drink trade organisation, based in Norfolk, will support the dissemination activities.