Norway wastes enormous quantities of vitality. Surplus warmth produced by {industry} is hardly exploited in any respect.
Researchers at NTNU have been wanting on the prospects for doing one thing about this.
“Surplus heat from industrial processes is a huge resource,” says Kim Kristiansen. He has simply accomplished his Ph.D. on a expertise that may harness a few of the surplus warmth that at the moment goes to waste.
Nearly all the warmth generated by industrial processes is at the moment launched straight into the air or the ocean, and we’re not speaking about small quantities. In Norway alone, {industry} produces round 20 TWh of waste warmth every year.
That quantity won’t imply a lot to you, however in response to the Norwegian Water Assets and Power Directorate (NVE), this quantity of vitality corresponds to half of the electrical energy consumption of all Norwegian households mixed. In different phrases, roughly your entire heating demand.
Kristiansen is a part of the thermodynamics analysis group at PoreLab within the Division of Chemistry. Tutorial supervisor Signe Kjelstrup and analysis group supervisor Øivind Wilhelmsen are co-authors of the article now printed within the journal Desalination.
Ingesting water as an added bonus
The expertise additionally has one other impact that will not be as related in Norway, however which may be a sport changer in nations with restricted consuming water.
“The technology doesn’t just recycle the waste heat energy, it can also purify the waste water produced by industry,” says Kristiansen.
In lots of components of the world, consuming water is changing into an more and more scarce useful resource.
“According to UNICEF, 4 billion people are already experiencing severe drinking water shortages for at least one month of the year, and there is a high demand for technology that can meet these challenges,” says Kristiansen.
An absence of consuming water is subsequently an issue for about half of the world’s 8 billion individuals.
Producing clear water
So what is that this new expertise?
“The waste water produced by industry is often contaminated. If we evaporate this impure water through small pores in a water-repellent membrane, the condensed water that emerges on the other side is drinkable,” says Kristiansen.
This technique is greatest suited to purifying water with so-called non-volatile impurities, reminiscent of salt. That is in distinction to alcohols and quite a lot of different natural substances that may evaporate together with the water by means of the membrane.
“The most important area of application for this technology is therefore desalination of seawater. The treatment of process water is not being ruled out, but it involves additional challenges depending on its content,” says Kristiansen.
So the expertise can produce consuming water, however what about exploiting the waste vitality?
Exploiting temperature variations to pump up water
When water is heated on one aspect of the membrane, it evaporates and releases warmth on the opposite aspect by means of condensation. A stress distinction could then come up between the 2 sides of the membrane.
“The temperature difference is used to pump the water up, and the pressure difference represents mechanical energy that can be used to power a turbine,” says Kristiansen. The phenomenon is named thermal osmosis.
Seemingly easy, however ingenious.
“We have investigated the interactions between water and the pores in the membrane, and what happens when the water evaporates, is transported through the pores, and condenses,” says Kristiansen in regards to the doctoral analysis.
He has designed theories on membrane properties and the impact they’ve on your entire course of. He has additionally systematically measured this impact within the laboratory.
“The conclusion is that the technology has great potential. Through modification of the membranes, we can help address both the increasing challenges associated with energy efficiency requirements and the lack of clean drinking water,” says Kristiansen.
A Dutch thought
Kristin Syverud on the RISE PFI analysis institute is excited about bettering the membranes used on this expertise.
“The starting point for the work was an idea that TNO in the Netherlands gets the credit for,” says Kristiansen’s educational supervisor Signe Kjelstrup.
She is Professor Emerita and former Head Researcher at PoreLab—Heart of Excellence. TNO is an impartial institute that works to translate analysis findings into real-life purposes.
TNO experimented with the idea known as “MemPower” (simultaneous manufacturing of water and energy) and the prototype was made at their services. The researchers needed to collaborate however had no funding. The answer was to proceed the challenge as open analysis at NTNU.
“Leen van der Ham from TU Delft got in touch with me and I introduced the idea to the group I then had at the Department of Chemistry, and later at PoreLab.”
Van der Ham took his Ph.D. in Chemistry at NTNU a number of years in the past, which reveals simply how vital it’s to have contacts. They labored with Luuk Keulen, a scholar at TU Delft, and the analysis was continued by Kristiansen and Michael Rauter from PoreLab.
Sensible challenges
“Industry is showing interest in the concept of membrane distillation, but so far, there are only a few pilot plants worldwide,” says Kristiansen.
The primary cause {industry} is lagging behind academia is said to sensible challenges related to membrane expertise, he explains. For instance, this is applicable to the lifespan of membranes below harsh industrial circumstances.
“A lot of work is being done internationally in both academia and industry to meet these challenges and commercialize the technology,” says Kristiansen.
The MemPower idea entails changing waste warmth into mechanical vitality based mostly on variations in temperature.
“My impression is that industry is not yet fully aware of this concept and the opportunity it offers,” says Kristiansen.
One of many conclusions within the newest article is that the potential for vitality manufacturing is aggressive in relation to extra established membrane-based vitality processes. He believes this might assist improve business curiosity.
Extra data:
Kim R. Kristiansen et al, Thermo-osmotic coefficients in membrane distillation: Experiments and principle for 3 varieties of membranes, Desalination (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2024.117785
Norwegian College of Science and Expertise
Quotation:
Researchers counsel sensible resolution to harness waste warmth from {industry} (2024, June 27)
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