Heat Accumulation from Renewables with Valid Energy Storage and Transformation - HARVEST

Completed

Energy Efficiency(Other)
Energy Efficiency(Residential and commercial)
Other Power and Storage Technologies(Energy storage)

Basic and strategic applied research

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Architecture and the Built Environment)

Not Cross-cutting
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy)

Dr Y Li
Chemical Engineering
University of Birmingham

Standard

EPSRC

01 October 2021

23 April 2026

55 months

£1,504,773

Energy

West Midlands

Energy : Energy

Dr Y Li, Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham

Dr X Fan, Sch of Engineering and Electronics, University of Edinburgh
Dr Z Mi, Bartlett Sch of Sustainable Construction, University College London

Project Contact, Ferrite Microwave Technologies, LLC, USA
Project Contact, AMP Clean Energy
Project Contact, Simon Fraser University
Project Contact, GEIRI Europe

The Committee on Climate Change suggests that we need to decarbonise all heat in buildings by 2050 to achieve the Net Zero emissions targets. The electrification of heat supply, through either direct electric heating or heat pumps, seems more likely to be realised in practice. However, the complete electrification of heat will result in much higher electricity demand in winter than in summer. Furthermore, due to the consistency of ambient temperature, it will also lead to electricity demand spikiness which is a big challenge for the grid.The HARVEST project will develop a new solution that can absorb and accumulate the curtailed/waste renewable electricity all around the year using thermochemical heat storage technology and then convert and magnify the heat output in winter and cooling output in summer using heat pump technology. The unique features of the proposed solution are: (1) the microwave-assisted process to flexibly absorb renewable electricity; and (2) the compact and efficient regeneration process by direct contact reaction between thermochemical heat storage materials and ammonia solution. We have established a strong multidisciplinary consortium, consisting of leading researchers from the University of Birmingham, the University of Edinburgh, and the University College London, to address the key challenges in both the scientific/technological aspects and social aspects. Our research will significantly contribute to several identified approaches in the 'Decarbonising Heating and Cooling 2' call document, in particular, the 'new technologies of heating and/or cooling' and 'new methods or significant developments for heat storage or cold storage'. Our research is also further supported by the UK and international partners to maximise knowledge exchange and impact delivery.

26/11/21