Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TEAPOTS (agriculTurE wAste PyrOlysis and Thermocomposting for renewable energy in Sustainable agri-food sector)
Période du rapport: 2024-01-01 au 2024-12-31
TEAPOTS aims to give agri-food players an innovative integrated, modular, and flexible solution to meet local and seasonal energy demand through the valorisation of lignocellulosic and difficult to be treated agricultural waste while producing biochar. The first valorisation process will employ pyrolysis to extract heat from waste. Heat will be employed by an Organic Rankine Cycle to produce electric energy, which will be employed by a Dry Cooler & Oil-free AWC to cool down cold rooms for storing agri-food products. The second process will extract heat using a Compost Heat Recovery System to harness hot water from the oxidation of biomass while producing compost. Heat will be used to provide sanitary hot water. These technologies will be integrated in the TEAPOTS Integrated Solution [TIS] to demonstrate the feasibility of the entire process using all the modules to provide refrigeration. Biochar and compost will be used as plant biostimulants to increase yields and store carbon in soil improving the environmental footprint of the end-user. Feedstocks to be used in the TIS will be mixed to improve energy production and products’ quality. Field and satellite data will be gathered to evaluate biomass growth, while the TIS operational data will be used to evaluate the environmental impact, through LCA analysis, and the overall functionality of the solution. Data will be integrated in a database which will allow the prediction of waste biomass production. This will be used by a Data Driven Decision Support System (DSS) to improve field and waste logistics, which will provide the means to keep the TIS up and running. The prediction system and the DSS will be integrated in the TEAPOTS Digital Platform, which will have an easy-to-use user interface to help end-users in the management of the entire solution. A Multy-Actor Approach will be employed to create a network of biomass producers interested in using agricultural waste to improve their environmental impact.
A system for the generation of a map of biomass availability using satellite data has been developed, allowing also for the estimation of biomass availability in crops and fields. This system, once integrated with the TEAPOTS Digital Platform (TDP), will allows also for a better logistic management of biomass to ensure a functional management for energy production through the TEAPOTS Integrated Solution (TIS) and the Compost Heat Recovery System (CHRS). This also includes a classification algorithm for vegetation coverage segmentation and distinction between permanent and temporary crops has been added
For a better biomass growth estimation, also a set of sensors has been developed to be installed in the field. Dedicated regression model for predicting Above Ground Biomass Density has been developed.
For a better biomass growth estimation, also a set of sensors has been developed to be installed in the field. Dedicated regression model for predicting Above Ground Biomass Density has been developed.
Being piloting activities not fully started, result achieved do not progress beyond the state of the art at the current moment.