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Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator: Phase 4 projects (funded under NZIP)

Updated 1 May 2024

Phase 4 aims to fund projects in which innovative technologies with potential to reduce energy consumption, maximise resource efficiency, and cut carbon emissions are developed and demonstrated in industry. This is designed to accelerate their deployment in UK industry, contributing towards achieving net zero by 2050. Such innovative technologies have applications across the UK industrial and manufacturing sectors.

The following 6 projects are to receive combined funding of around £4.1 million for Phase 4, leveraging around £3.2 million in private investment.

1. Improving foundry sustainability using 3D printing of large patterns

• Led by Ai Build Ltd
• Technology developer location: London, England
• Industrial partner: Weir Minerals Europe Limited & The Manufacturing Technology Centre Limited (MTC)
• Industrial demonstration location: Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England
• Grant funding: £666,052.19

Ai Build, in collaboration with Weir Minerals and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), is aiming to improve foundry processes by replacing conventionally made wooden sandcasting patterns, used to manufacture metal castings, with digitally enabled 3D printed thermoplastic patterns. The design and manufacturing freedom that the large format 3D printing process offers will enable topological optimisation of the pattern tools and resultant cast metal parts, with a calculated average reduction of 20% of mass of parts. The mass reduction will directly result in a 20% reduction in the amount of white cast iron used and the related energy used to heat and process it. 

 Additive Manufacturing (AM) processing software, developed by Ai Build, will provide a streamlined digital thread from casting design through to pattern manufacture. The software will be linked to a robotic printing cell capable of rapidly and reliably printing patterns up to 3m in diameter. The MTC is providing critical expertise on pattern design optimisation as well as material selection and recycling trials.

Commercial and environmental benefits of large-scale 3D printing of patterns will be demonstrated in one of the UK’s largest foundries (Weir Minerals Europe Ltd.), which melts almost 12,000 tonnes/year of ferrous alloys. This project addresses longstanding and technical challenges that necessitates a collaborative effort by the 3 partners: - technology developer and project lead, Ai Build - with collaboration from the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and industrial end-user, Weir

When fully implemented this approach will save 3,473,117 kWh/yr of energy (665 tCO2e/yr) and 2,106 tonnes/year of white cast iron per year at Weir (1,803t CO2e/year), as well significant benefits within the wider industrial community. The project will allow Ai Build to exploit the technology with other foundries across the UK.

2. Dispersed non-metallic reinforcement for energy efficient manufacturing of precast concrete

• Led by FP McCann
• Technology developer location: Magherafelt, Northern Ireland
• Partners: B9 Solutions, The National Composites Centre, Queen’s University Belfast
• Industrial demonstration location: Magherafelt, Northern Ireland
• Grant funding: £869,548.40

FP McCann aims to validate the use of non-corrosive basalt fibre reinforced polymer macro fibres (BFRPmf) for use in precast concrete. BFRP is an emerging construction material, made of continuous basalt fibre bound together in a resin matrix. Corrosion susceptible carbon steel reinforcement is primarily used in concrete to counter tensile stresses expected during the service life of a structure. Reinforcement, in the form of bars, meshes, or cages, is meticulously positioned in the formwork before concrete placement. Fabrication, transport, and placement of reinforcement cages in moulds are energy, time, and labour-intensive processes. BFRPmf can be used to replace or reduce the need for the traditional steel reinforcement by uniformly dispersing the fibres in the concrete mix during the batching process, saving on energy and carbon emissions, as well as improving productivity.

This project will involve laboratory mix optimisation and testing, industrial upscaling at modified production line, full-scale structural and surface quality testing, and establishing design protocols. The environmental impacts will be quantified through energy monitoring, environmental product declarations and life cycle assessment. This will contribute to the industries broader understanding of the technology and may influence the development of international specifications and standards. It is expected that the project will demonstrate steel reinforcement replacement of at least 25%, leading to 20% reduced energy consumption and lower carbon footprint.

3. Souper Green

• Led by OAL (Olympus Automation Ltd)
• Technology developer location: Peterborough, East of England
• Industrial partners: Marks and Spencer PLC; Solina
• Industrial demonstration location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
• Grant funding: £985,950.64

OAL’s UK demonstrator will deploy an APRIL™ Robotics Cooking Cell; a robotic food processing system with specific Clean in Place (CIP) enhancements to deliver energy and carbon savings in soup and sauce manufacturing processes. Production of commercial sauce sold in retailers’ chilled cabinets results in a high energy use, which can be reduced through a symbiotic combination of APRIL™ Robotics and improved CIP, utilising OAL’s Steam Infusion technology.

APRIL™ fully automates cooking operations using a robot to move a lightweight cooking vessel between processing stations. This means heating operations are much more efficient and the equipment is far easier to clean. The system also includes a highly accurate robotic ingredient weighing system to reduce ingredient waste. From production trials in the field, this leads to very significant energy savings of circa 80%. The system will use standard batch cleaning methodology but with reduced gas energy and water usage, as the overall system is easier to clean. Further energy savings are generated by harvesting waste heat.

4. Recycling polyester post consumer waste textiles back into clothing

• Led by Plan B International Solutions Ltd
• Industrial demonstraton location: London, England
• Technology partner: Salvation Army Trading Company Limited (SATCoL)
• Technology partner location: Kettering, England
• Grant funding: £630,949.62

In this European exclusive technology, Plan B International Solutions Limited and Salvation Army Trading Company Limited (SATCoL) will use thermo-mechanical extrusion technology to recycle polyester clothing and other polyester textiles waste, for which there are currently no textile recycling systems in the UK. They will turn old polyester clothing and polyester from home furnishings, advertising banners, supermarket uniforms and many more items into pellets, which in turn can be re-used in plastic products, or further extruded into a type of polyester pellet which can be re-used in plastic products, or further extruded into new yarns for clothing and other textile products.

Plan B will be working with SATCoL, who are the largest charity-owned textiles collector and reprocessor in the UK. The technology is located at a dedicated facility in Kettering, the new technology will help to reduce the amount of textiles being burnt and landfilled, enabling the polyester to be recovered and reused. Plan B’s Circular Textile Foundation works with designers and suppliers to eco-design clothing that is made to last and recyclable when it is outworn, suitable for recycling with the technology.

The UK produces about 50,000 tonnes of polyester textile waste every year, with less than 1% recycled and about 10 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) per tonne of polyester clothing produced. If incinerated at end of life, additional fossil CO2 emissions are released (2.2 tCO2e/t incinerated), about half of the polyester waste textiles arising in the UK are incinerated and half are 50% landfilled. Recycled content in clothing reduces its environmental impact; thermo-mechanical recycling reduces GHG emissions by 70-80% (McKinsey, 2022).

5. SmartAIR+

• Led by R&B Industrial Ltd
• Technology developer location: Andover, Hampshire, England
• Industrial partner: INKTECH Ltd
• Industrial demonstration location: Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England
• Grant funding: £596,690.20

R&B Industrial aim to build on the success of their SmartAIR technology which uses flow sensors, modulating airflow controllers and central control algorithms to optimise the energy efficiency of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems. LEV is essential in many industries where there is a risk of exposure to harmful vapours, gases, fumes, dusts, mists and/or microorganisms. Energy savings are achieved by minimising system pressure and airflow to meet the exact control requirements at the time. The project intends to demonstrate further energy savings through the introduction of innovative digital systems, dust deposition sensors, energy harvesting technology and ATEX certification brought together as the SmartAIR+ platform.

SmartAIR+’s digital wireless systems will allow rapid installation and improve reliability in industrial ventilation systems. Several novel technologies will be combined in SmartAIR+, including energy harvesting technology developed in conjunction with the University of Exeter. The energy harvesters will draw enough power from the airstream to fully power the airflow controllers, making the system truly wireless. The project aims to demonstrate energy savings of up to 70% when compared with conventional ‘Inverter Constant Pressure Control’ (ICPC) systems. Workplace conditioned air costs can also be reduced due to optimised extraction flowrates. In future, SmartAIR+ technology could be used to optimise airflows in commercial and potentially domestic ventilation systems.

6. Near solidus forging low energy production of forged components

• Led by University of Warwick
• Technology developer location: Warwick, West Midlands (England)
• Industrial partners: W.H. Tildesley Ltd, Universidad De La Iglesia De Deusto, Hydrasun Ltd
• Industrial demonstration location: Willenhall, England
• Grant funding: £277,717.72

The University of Warwick looks to implement Near Solidus Forging (NSF), a novel manufacturing process for creating metallic components within traditional forging. The process uses ultra-high near melting temperatures which reduces the number of strikes required to make components. Conventional hot forging (HF) at 1000–1100 °C requires multiple intermediate steps, of deformation and reheat and several die cavities, to obtain the final geometry. This is energy intensive and requires significant additional material above the finished product weight (typically 50-100%). NSF processing at near solidus temperatures (just below the temperature where the material becomes liquid) enables the shape change to take place where the material’s mechanical strength is significantly reduced and exhibits superior formability in just a single deformation.

Through the production of a near net shape forged product, NSF processing can save 40% in raw materials and minimise the energy and CO2 footprint of the process, enabling a significant step towards net carbon zero status for the forging industry. The process also allows new high performing parts to be produced by manipulating the deformation of the metal it can introduce dynamic recrystallisation and influence the final mechanical properties of the finished forged part. This can provide significant benefits in component mechanical properties after forging, in comparison to HF. The project will also look to replace gas furnaces with more efficient electric induction furnace technology which will reduce energy consumption further. The proposed demonstrator site (W.H. Tildesley) will act as a reference site for UK metal formers and forgers to visit as part of the UK dissemination and rollout.