Newton Fund: An ORC power plant integrated with thermal energy storage to utilise renewable heat sources for distributed H&P

中国作为最大的能源消费国，严重依赖煤炭等化石燃料发电，导致严重的空气污染问题。因此，中国向更清洁的能源供应过渡至关重要。中国拥有丰富的太阳能资源，特别是在最贫穷的西部省份，可再生能源发电可能在中国未来的能源供应中发挥至关重要的作用。另一方面，中国虽然成为世界第二大经济体，但仍然是一个发展中国家，人均收入排名世界第84位。中国欠发达地区丰富的可再生能源资源的开发也有助于提振当地经济和解决贫困问题。该项目旨在开发一种蓄热增强型ORC电力技术，以利用可再生热源(例如太阳能)来提供本地电力和供热。ORC发电技术被认为是最有前途的低温热源发电技术。与太阳能光伏电池板将太阳光转换为电能不同，ORC发电厂将太阳能热能转换为电力。与蓄热相结合，太阳能热ORC系统可以克服太阳光的间歇性，提供更稳定的发电和供热。通过增加ORC系统的运行时间，回报也增加了，使这项技术比传统的、基于化石的能源更负担得起。此外，由于对热输入和输出进行缓冲和调节，它们的可靠性也得到了提高。除了应用于太阳能外，这种技术在利用地热能或废热资源方面也很有吸引力。已开发系统的广泛安装将为中国经济的脱碳做出贡献，并最终减少空气污染，提高城市人口的生活质量。拟议的研究和开发将解决阻碍这些技术商业化的几个挑战。在中国方面，北京工业大学(BJUT)将为该项目开发高效单螺杆膨胀机技术，并为利用熔盐的高温蓄热技术的发展做出贡献。业务合作伙伴中国投资宜兴红太阳太阳能科技有限公司将制造膨胀机并开发太阳能技术演示器。在英国方面，Sunamp将开发和提供使用相变材料的中到高温蓄热技术。格拉斯哥大学(UOG)的团队在他们正在进行的两个关于小规模ORC技术的EPSRC项目的基础上，将专注于集成系统、控制策略和与电网连接的电力电子系统的设计。这四个项目合作伙伴拥有这一集成技术的不同子系统的专业知识，组成了一个独特的强大财团，以应对这些挑战，并将拟议技术的TRL推向商业化阶段。

China, as the largest energy consumer, relies heavily on power generation from fossil fuels such as coal, leading to serious air pollution issues. It is therefore crucial for China to transit towards cleaner energy supply. Solar energy resources are abundant in China, particularly in the poorest western provinces, and renewable power generation can potentially play a vital role in energy supply for China in the future. On the other hand, although China became the second biggest economy in the world, it still remains a developing country and its per capita income is ranked as NO. 84 in the world. The exploitation of the abundant renewable energy resources in the underdeveloped regions in China can also help to boost local economy and tackle poverty. This project aims to develop a heat storage enhanced ORC power technology to utilise renewable heat sources (e.g. solar energy) for localised power and heat supply. ORC power generation technology is believed to be the most promising technology for power generation from low temperature heat sources. Unlike solar PV panels converting sun light into electricity, ORC power plants convert solar thermal energy to power. Integrated with heat storage, solar thermal ORC systems can overcome the intermittency of sun light and provide more stable power generation and heat supply. By increasing the running time of the ORC system, the payback also increases making this technology more affordable as compared to conventional, fossil based sources of energy. Furthermore, their reliability is also increased as the heat input and output are buffered and regulated. Apart from its application to solar energy, such technology is also attractive for utilising geothermal energy or waste heat sources. The wide installation of the developed system will make contribution to the decarbonisation of the economy China, and ultimately reduce the air pollution improve the urban populations' life quality. The proposed research and development will address several challenges that hinders the commercialisation of these technologies. On the Chinese side, Beijing University of Technology (BJUT) will develop high efficiency single screw expander technology for this project, and contribute to the development of high temperature heat storage technology using molten salts. The business partner, China Investment Yixing Red Sun Solar Energy Technology Company(CIYR), will manufacture the expanders and develop the solar powered technology demonstrator. On the UK side, Sunamp will develop and provide medium to high temperature heat storage technology using phase changer materials. The University of Glasgow (UOG) team, building upon their two on-going EPSRC projects on small scale ORC technologies, will focus on the design of the integrated system, the control strategy, and power electronic systems for the connection with grid. The four project partners, having expertise of different subsystems of this integrated technology, form a uniquely strong consortium to address these challenges and to bring the TRL of the proposed technology towards the commercialisation stage.