Waste Heat Recovery: Lowering our dependence on fossil fuel through increased efficiency

In partnership with Novopower Intl, Montreal, QC, Canada

Lessening our environmental impact and the burden of climate change will ultimately be achieved by a combination of several approaches:

• reducing energy consumption at the source,
• switching from using non-renewable energy sources, fossil fuels being the first obvious one, to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy,
• increasing the efficiency of our energy use.

This last approach is that which has been undertaken by Novopower Intl (NPI). This Montreal startup is developing a free-piston/linear generator based Organic Rankine Cycle to recover heat from low temperatures. This technology enables the reuse of heat from, for example, computer datacenters to produce electrical power that is re-injected into the grid. This approach contrasts with facility co-location where the heat generated by servers would be used in nearby district heating applications. Using waste thermal energy to heat buildings is only possible when the outside temperature is cold. In NPI's system, the heat can be used to produce electricity throughout the year.
As part of this collaboration, a demonstrator system is being studied at Concordia University.

Team

Professors

Charles Basenga Kiyanda, Associate Professor, Concordia University
Luis Rodrigues, Concordia University
Pragasen Pillay, Concordia University
Chunyan Lai, Concordia University

Industrial Partners

Philip Raphals, Novopower International Inc.

Former Students

Paritosh Joshi
Philippe-Olivier Fournier-Leonard
Dimpykumari Patel

Potential Positions:

• M.Eng Semester Research Projects (ENGR 6981)
• Master's/Phd/Postdoc Position

Current and Previous Funding

Climate Solutions Prize (JNF Canada)
Innovée
MITACS