Kevin Meili

Renewable Metal Fuels (ReMeF) are seasonal energy carriers which are able to enhance the energy security. We investigate the contribution that ReMeF can make as combined heat and power elements of the building stock a) to cover the local demand for electricity and heat and b) to feed electricity into the grid to support the energy system. In focus are metals as winter-energy suppliers based on their availability, cost, and chemical properties, which potentially can achieve greenhouse gas savings compared to import-options or natural gas based systems. PeakMetal is co-funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), and lasts from December 2022 to December 2023.

SPF has the technical lead in the EU Horizon Europe project reveal. Within this project, a seasonal energy storage cycle is developed that is based on the oxidation and reduction of aluminum as an energy carrier. The main responsibilities of SPF, besides the technical lead, is the development of technologies for Alu-to-Energy conversion: the conversion of energy that is stored chemically within the aluminium into heat and power. This development is in close collaboration with the institute UMTEC of OST. REVEAL is co-funded by the European Unions Horizon Europe Programme and Swiss State Secretariate for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), and lasts from July 2022 to June 2026.

Sorption heat pumps can provide cooling based on renewable district heat or waste heat, thus expanding the scope of district heating networks (DHN) and making better use of existing renewable heat sources. On the other hand, sorption heat pumps in district heat transfer stations can also provide heat while significantly reducing the return flow of the district heating network compared to a station with ordinary heat exchanger. This increases the efficiency of district heating supply. However, commercially available sorption machines are not designed for DHN. Therefore, new sorption materials, ideally suited to the temperatures and applications in district heating networks, are being developed and incorporated in a heat & mass exchanger designed for reversible adsorption heat pumps.