Where HERO® Delivers Clean Heat

01 / Application Pillar

Process Heat

Meeting the challenge of decarbonizing those industrial processes that can’t be electrified.

THE ROLE OF PROCESS HEAT

Everything around us in modern life has had an aspect of process heat in its production. Everything we eat, wear, our shelter, our transport, our workplace, our communications, packaging, cleaning and manufacturing has heat somewhere in its production and supply chain, many at multiple points.

WHY ELECTRIFICATION HAS LIMITS

Process heat is hard to electrify. At lower levels, simple heating can be serviced by heat pumps, provided renewable electricity is available. Recaptured heat from industrial processes can help a lot too.

However, at higher temperatures, and during constant, intensive use, electrification has its limitations. In these situations, heat is overwhelming provided by burning fossil fuels such as gas, coal and oil or, in some cases, biomass (pelletised woodchips).

HOW HERO® CLOSES THE GAP

HERO®, with its ability to provide constant, greenhouse gas-free heat, closes the gap between electrification and the target of 100% carbon-free production. Our early pilots are dedicated to providing process heat for industry.

THE GLOBAL ENERGY SHIFT

The drive is on globally for new, efficient, clean, affordable energy systems. At one end of the human condition, this is being demanded by underdeveloped countries who don’t have the luxury of a modern electricity grid. At the other end, it is the insatiable demands of data, driven by the growth of artificial intelligence.

HYDROGEN AS ENERGY

At its most basic level, hydrogen is a store of energy, often described as a “chemical battery”. One of the challenges hydrogen faces is how to extract that energy efficiently. Put simply, burning hydrogen is a poor way to extract its energy. HERO® avoids the multiple problems of burning hydrogen by extracting the energy in the form of flameless heat.

STEAM TURBINE POTENTIAL

HERO® – derived heat can be used to create steam of the intensity to drive a turbine in a traditional coal-fired power station. We’ve already done this. Engineering studies have confirmed that we could flip the world’s coal-fired power stations to hydrogen using HERO®. In an engineering sense, this would be relatively easy and cost-effective, compared, for example, to building a nuclear power station.

However, there are two challenges. The first is that there is not yet enough clean hydrogen to power the world’s coal-fired power stations. The second is that a lot of humanity is not serviced by an electricity grid.

ORC TURBINES

Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turbines are more flexible and deployable, but they are not particularly “efficient”. This means they need a relatively large amount of energy to create more energy.

SUPERCRITICAL CO2

We think that the most exciting turbines in development are those that are driven by heating carbon dioxide (which is not vented and is retained within the system). When CO2 is heated and under pressure it goes “super critical” which means it is partly gas, partly a liquid. It stores a phenomenal amount of energy, which can be used to drive turbines about a tenth of the size of an equivalent (in electricity output) steam turbine.

The mating of HERO® to these “Supercritical CO2 turbines” is a very exciting possibility as a discreet energy source for things like data centres and geographically remote communities.

The engineering development and mass-production of these turbines will take some time, but the possibilities are exciting indeed.

02 / Application Pillar

Energy

Meeting the challenge for off-grid or behind-the-meter energy solutions.

03 / Application Pillar

Water Treatment

Turning saline and produced water into a useable resource.

Extracting salt from sea water or ground water requires a lot of energy and/or heat, depending on the process which is used.

Likewise, mining and the production of oil gas creates a lot of saline and heavy-metal laced wastewater that is currently wasted. With some treatment this can be used, if not for drinking, then for industrial purposes and some forms of forestry and agriculture.

At Star Scientific, we’re researching ways that HERO® can be used to treat saline water, reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of the process.

WHY DISTRICT HEAT MATTERS

While not an issue in our home country, or most of the global south, district heating (for homes and other buildings) is a critical process to sustain life in much of the northern hemisphere, and it is overwhelmingly provided by the burning of fossil fuels.

HERO® HEAT EXCHANGER

Hot water or steam for district heating is easy to supply by a HERO® heat exchanger, operating at relatively low temperatures that HERO® can easily achieve.

THE IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE

The challenge is that in Europe, in particular, many of these systems are small and in the hands of local governments, with their own regulations and ways of doing business. Swapping to HERO® systems will therefore take some time.

04 / Application Pillar

District Heat

Bringing sustainable warmth to cold climate communities.

05 / Application Pillar

GREEN STEEL AND ALUMINIUM

Decarbonising one of our largest and hardest to abate sectors.

GREEN STEEL

Clean Hydrogen is often spoken of as a key ingredient for “Green Steel”. It is thought that de-carbonising steel production is a major way that the world can hit its greenhouse gas targets.

THE REDUCTANT PROCESS

The process that is usually spoken of is separate to the HERO® process. The hydrogen is injected directly into the furnace to act as a reductant in the same way that coal currently is. A reductant means “burning off” and separating the impurities from the iron in the raw ore.

WHERE HERO® COMES IN

However, before it is injected into the furnace, or “kettle”, depending on the technology, the hydrogen is pre-heated to high temperatures, and this is where HERO® can come in.

ALUMINIUM

Making aluminium requires a lot of energy, and as we have described, we are working on clean energy systems. We believe these systems will be applicable to induction processes. Both these uses will take a little time to perfect, but again they are very exciting.

OTHER APPLICATIONS

We’ve already discussed some of the key commercial applications that we think are the most achievable in the short term. However there are plenty of other applications on the drawing-board.

DRYING

Drying is an important industrial process used in multiple industries. For example, hot air is used to dry milk for milk powder. Pulp and fibre need to be dried to make paper and personal care products. Drying is an important part of textile manufacture. All of these require the heat that HERO® can provide.

BAKING

HERO® can be used to heat a hot plate, which can be used for things like baking foods and kilns for industrial purposes such as brickmaking.

FERTILISER

Ammonia is the basis of synthetic fertiliser and is made by heating nitrogen in the Haber-Bosch process at 400-500 degrees. We believe HERO® can be used to provide this heat, to make “green ammonia” truly “green”.

TRANSPORT

Ammonia is also being investigated as a replacement fuel for shipping, replacing diesel. There is also the potential to use HERO® system to raise steam.

Private and commercial vehicles won’t be a target for HERO®, which is too complex for cars and trucks. However, hydrogen has a massive role to play here via the well-established technology of hydrogen fuel cells.

CLEANING

Commercial laundries for, for example, hotels, hospitals and jails, require heating for large volumes of water.

Where HERO® delivers real world impact