Waste Heat to Energy

Introduction

To cope with the growing global energy consumption and sustainable development scenarios, Waste Heat Recovery is an efficient, green, and economic solution to help highly demanding industries save valuable energy.

Current Challenges

However, while low-grade waste heat (<100°) constitutes the largest source of heat with an annual 3700 Mtoe, corresponding to 63% of the total recoverable heat, it has not been widely exploited yet due to technical and economical difficulties.

• Only valorisation of high and medium grade in the form of electricity is largely deployed at an industrial scale.

Project Overview

In the WH2E project, Sweetch Energy is proposing an innovative way to convert low-grade waste heat into electric power.

Methodology

To do so, two major steps will be necessary:

1. The conversion of temperature gradient into salinity gradient using thermo-sensible ionic liquids.
2. Coupling with an osmotic engine (INOD) to generate electric power as final output.

The INOD (Ionic Nano Osmotic Diffusion) technology, developed by Sweetch Energy, is based on the most advanced nanotechnologies and specific membrane design.

Project Goals

At the end of the project, a testing phase in partnership with an international industrial corporation will allow reaching a TRL6 and securing market readiness.

Sweetch Energy is targeting first the industrial sector and ambitions to become a global leader in the decarbonized electricity sector.

Support

The project is supported by Veolia and Solvay.