In the future, waste recycling facilities in Switzerland could play an increasingly crucial role in the supply of energy and raw materials. "According to the principle of circular economy, we want to get as much benefit as possible from the different infrastructure and waste and energy flows in the KVA," explains project leader Dariusz Nowak, Researcher at the Institute of Energy Technology.
The GreenHub project, one of eight Flagship projects funded by the , brings together 15 research partners and aims to demonstrate that an energy self-sufficient Switzerland, able to promote economic growth, can be achieved through the intelligent use of synergies between different technologies. This will be achieved through the conversion of locally generated heat, CO鈧�, and electricity into chemical energy carriers.
Specifically, the project aims to meet the seasonal energy deficit by adopting different energy storage strategies; these will result in a region-wide field demonstration in the form of a "Green Energy Hub." In this regard, the Hybrid Materials (HM) and Thermo-Fluid Dynamics (TFD) laboratories of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Technology (MEMTi) will collaborate in the design, modeling, and construction of a reactor-heat exchanger, to enhance the outflows from the incinerator.
The Horgen Waste Incineration Plant (KVA) ( photo) will act as a "real-world laboratory" and will be significantly involved in the project as an implementation partner. During the four-year development of the project, a significant portion of the research results will be tested in real operation at the Horgen plant, using prototypes and verifying their scalability for other KVA and industrial plants.
Guided site tours will also be organized to provide the public with an insight into the research results and the potential represented by waste incineration plants for sustainable energy and feedstock supply.
More information about the project and research partners is available at: .