New energy system to power off-grid homes
Newcastle University and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council are leading the RCUK Energy Programme. An innovative advancement has been introduced based on a trigeneration system fuelled entirely by raw plant oils. The system has the potential to supply homes and commercial properties out of reach of the UK grid.
The innovation is based on a combined cooling, heat and power system and looks to provide an independent electricity supply without the requirement of a mains connection. To avoid wastage the heat produced is then redirected into the cooling and heating system to ensure maximum energy production.
The Programme has been developed by a group of organisations in addition to the above including University of Leeds, University of Ulster and three Chinese Universities.
The organisations first looked at usage and logged minute by minute usage in households. In most households heating demand is stable when hot water and space heating is required. Electricity however could peak and trough. This new system will therefore run at constant high efficiency and work alongside an electricity storage system so it can easily match demands.
Professor Tony Roskilly, of Newcastle University said:
“The challenge was to design a system that could simultaneously satisfy the more predictable needs for heating and hot water, as well as the wildly varying demand for electricity in a small dwelling. Our solution was to incorporate advanced electrical storage into the system, both batteries and the latest supercapacitors, combined with innovative system control.”
“Energy storage unlocks the key to the most efficient use of the trigeneration system. We wanted to avoid running the trigeneration system using biodiesel or other highly-processed fuels from raw materials,” says Professor Roskilly. “So instead, we developed a system for using the oils obtained from pressing crop seeds, like those from jatropha and croton.”
“These crops can grow in harsh environments and on poor-quality land and so could be well-suited to providing fuel in developing countries, as cultivating them would not adversely affect food production. The potential demand for this technology in such countries is very large.”