MOF BASED ADSORPTION SYSTEM FOR INTEGRATED ENERGY STORAGE AND POWER GENERATION

There is a significant ammount of waste heat generated in UK costing the economy billions and causing environmental damage. This heat cannot be effectively utilised using currently available technologies due to their limitations of cost, size, portability, complexity of integration with other energy sources and the need for high operating temperature. This project aims to utilise a new approach based on the adsorption / desorption characteristics of highly porous metal organic frame work material to store this waste heat in the form of dried adsorbent material. Such dried adsorbent material can be
transported to any other sites where it can be easily integrated to exiting infrastructure to release the stored heat for either space heating/cooling or power generation. This novel approach of handling waste heat outperforms existing waste heat recovery technologies in terms of cost, efficiency and carbon emmissions. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, a partnership between Weatherite Manufacturing Ltd and the University of Birmingham was established. The proposed project is crucial to the development of an effective energy storage system that hanress waste heat and contribute to the security of UK energy supply. The research will cover:

a) Assess the thermal performance of the MOF material in an adsorption cycle for heat storage application.

b) Map the thermal performance of the proposed system for space heating, cooling and power generation.

c) Explore various manufacturing techniques to develop a light weight, compact adsorber bed design.

d) Demonstrate the integration of a dried adsorbent material bed into central heating system for domestic heating applications where the dried adsorbent material will undergo an adsorption process releasing the stored heat to be used for producing hot water for heating purpose.

e) Integrating the adsorption beds with a turbine to demonstrate the power generation capability using the adsorption cycle.

f) Demonstrate the integration of a dried adsorbent material bed into air conditioning system to provide cooling.

The primary potential impact of the proposed project is the emergenece of a paradigm shift in the way waste heat can be stored, transported and integrated to existing infrastructures to provide for heating, cooling and power generation applications. Practically, it is the development of a new "heat battery" where heat can be stored for an indifinite period of time and also effectively integrated to available energy systems to suit the end user energy requirements. The thrust of the
proposed technology is to exploit the superior water adsorption characteristics of MIL101Cr MOF material to store and transport waste heat in the form of heat of adsorption. In this technology the waste heat will be used to dry the MOF adsorbent stored in sealed containers (beds) which can be transported to any other locations where it can be integrated to an existing infrastructure to generate heating, cooling and / or electricity. With the nature of the adsorption process where
heat can only be released when the MOF adsorbent is subjected to water vapour, then as long as the MOF container is kept sealed from any vapour leak, the MOF remains dry and heat will be stored for any indefinite period of time without the need for any sort of thermal insulation. This advantage allows heat to be stored for longer periods suitable for seasonal usage which cannot be achieved with existing technologies.

The outcome of this project will allow the applicants to acquire detailed knowledge regarding the effectiveness of using such highly porous materials in handling waste heat, the logestics associated with storing, transporting and interfacing with existing energy infrastructures, manufacturing techniques to achieve a cost effective product and the market dynamics.

Economic benefit
The success of the UK industry in developing this technology and effectively harness waste heat will alliviate energy demands, reduce carbon emmissions and ensure profitable outcomes to the industry. It is very important to point out here that this issue of energy demand and waste heat exploitation is a global issue and is not related to UK only. Therefore, development of this technology will have a global dimension. One example of the market potential for this proposed system is the size of the world cooling market valued at £448 million for absorption chillers and £4.1 billion for the mechanical vapour compression system driven by electricity. The proposed system based on utilising waste heat can compete and outperform current technologies.

Environmental Benefits
Data from a study conducted by the Institute of Civil Engineering indicated that every one TWhr of waste heat used can reduce CO2 emmissions by 0.32 MtCO2. As outlined before, the proposed system utilises waste heat to provide heating, cooling and / or power geneartion. Therefore, it will contribute significantly to the energy security and help in achieving the UK legislated 80% reduction in Carbon emmissions by 2050. Based on real data from a waste heat driven cooling system based on silica gel / water developed by Weatherite Manufacturing Ltd and installed at Tesco in Swindon, and if all supermarkets in UK utilises this proposed system, this will result in energy savings of 2TWh per annum and reduce the CO2 emmissions by 0.72Mt.

Social Benefits
The impact of improved environment on public health is significant (like respiratory diseases), where reduced CO2 emissions will improve the quality of life and social interactions. The significant energy savings associated with this product will also lead to financial advantages to the public in terms of lower shelf prices and increased employment levels. As for Weatherite, the increased sales will benefit the local economy within one of the UK's most deprived areas (Sandwell) through securing the current employment level (over 240 people).