I-UPS research kicks-off
The Horizon Europe research and innovation I-UPS team at the kick-off meeting at the Kyoto Group headquarters in Lysaker, Norway. Photo: Lelagh Trewhella.
Enerin AS CEO, Arne Høeg, looks forward to demonstrating the company’s HoegTemp High Temperature Heat Pump (HTHP) integrated with Thermal Energy Storage (TES) in the new I-UPS project.
Enerin partners with Kyoto Group AS, RPow, KTH Royal Institute of Technology laboratories, (Unit of Heat and Power Technology) and Università degli Studi di Genova in the I-UPS research project to develop reliable thermal energy storage systems.
The project is a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) funded by Horizon Europe at a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 5. The kick-off meeting was held on Monday, 13 May 2024 at the Kyoto Group headquarters in Lysaker, Norway.
Working with the I-UPS consortium partners, Enerin aims to tune its HoegTemp heat pump to achieve temperatures of up to 400 °C to heat molten salt, derived from fertilizer industry nitrates, for TES. Kyoto Group is responsible for the complete small-scale HTHP/TES system that will be assembled and integrated at the Kyoto Group’s R&D Center in Hønefoss.
Molten salts heated with surplus solar energy, boosted by the heat upgrading efficiencies of the HoegTemp industrial heat pump will develop a battery concept to deliver stable thermal energy that could store heat in tanks for two to three days to cover Winter supply. Spain leads in the TES sector due to abundant solar energy sources.
The thermal energy storage system will be suitable for small and medium-sized factories as climate targets, and fossil and nuclear phase-outs loom.
The Project
In practical terms, the project will assemble a small HoegTemp unit with high-temperature heat exchangers to heat a molten salt TES, which then will heat a simulated load to demonstrate a thermal battery, which has an efficiency greater than 100%. It is envisaged that this system can be controlled just as easily as a direct, electrically heated thermal battery.
“ The main challenge is to develop a heat exchanger for helium to molten salt that can withstand the strains from the high temperatures and variable temperatures, while maintaining the high efficiency of the HoegTemp heat pump.”
The Enerin CEO said it was envisaged that the combined system would allow heat pumps and thermal storage to be an efficient grid-balancing asset.
Høeg attended the kick-off meeting with the consortium partners with his team, R&D Project Engineer, Kristian Løver, and Senior R&D Project Engineer, Sindre Abrahamsen. The meeting included a visit to the Kyoto Group’s R&D Center.
I-UPS project is co-ordinated by Rafael Guedez, Head of Heat and Power Division, Energy Technology Department, KTH, with support from his team including researchers Silvia Trevisan and Mateo Sanclemente Lozano.
Kyoto Group specializes in a thermal battery called Heatcube that replaces oil, gas or diesel burners on site with charged electricity. The Group will head up the Communication of the project.
The meeting included a visit to the Kyoto Group’s R&D Center in Hønefoss. Photo: Lelagh Trewhella.