Power Generation and Heat Recovery from Industrial Waste Heat with Advanced CO2 Thermodynamic Power Cycles (PowerCO2)

Each year in the UK, approximately there are 48 TWh/yr industrial waste heat sources which is equivalent to one sixth of overall industrial energy use. Of this amount of industrial waste heat, technically 11TWh/yr (2.2 MtCO2/yr) could be potentially recovered for useful purposes such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) through specially designed energy conversion technologies. Globally one third of energy consumption is attributable to the industrial sector, with up to 50% ultimately wasted as heat. The market of power generation with industrial waste heat is thus enormous.

The project will create an innovative CO2 transcritical power cycle (iT-CO2) for energy conversion systems with industrial waste heat. Instead of using an inapplicable CO2 liquid pump, a combined CO2 transcritical compressor and vapour-liquid ejector will be developed and installed in the system to create thermal-to-electrical efficiency of a target 30% (i.e. double state-of-the-art).

The project outcomes will target heat-intensive industries such as steel, glass and other heat-intensive planets that require CHP solutions on sites or grid connections.