Periodic Reporting for period 2 - BHE (A new high-performance and environmentally clean engine for heat pumps, using thermo-acoustics technology)
Période du rapport: 2023-01-01 au 2024-06-30
The project is called "A new high-performance and environmentally clean engine for heat pumps, using thermo-acoustics technology".
Heating and cooling represent 50% of the energy consumption in the EU and it represents 70% of the residential/domestic energy bill.
Heat pumps are the most energy efficient heating systems and sales are growing fast. However, despite the regulations and incentives to increase heat pump acceptance, in 2021, 2M heat pumps were sold, far from the 7M gas boilers installed that same year.
Gas boilers and fossil fuel heating systems still dominate the market, the reasons for this are:
1. Heat pumps are not a perfect fit for existing houses. They can efficiently deliver the low temperatures needed for new, well insulated, houses. But they can’t provide the high temperatures needed for the radiators of existing, not so well insulated, houses.
2. Heat pumps are expensive compared to the gas boilers that they need to replace.
3. Heat pumps are noisy.
4. Heat pumps still use HFC refrigerant gases with high global warming potential.
Current heat pumps use the vapor compression technique, that has been in the market for more than a century and has limited room for significant performance improvements. Therefore, there is a need and an opportunity to disrupt the heating and cooling market using a new technique.
Blue Heart Energy (BHE) has developed a new engine/component for heat pumps, using thermo-acoustics. The thermo-acoustic technology can replace the vapor compression core of heat pumps.
Blue Heart enhances the performance of heat pumps. Heat pumps with Blue Heart inside:
1. Are suitable for both new and existing houses, as Blue Heart can efficiently deliver both low and high temperatures.
2. Are easier to produce and to install, reducing the cost for the end customer.
3. Are silent.
4. Do not use any HFC refrigerants.
Blue Heart will enable the replacement of gas boilers with heat pumps, boosting their adoption by end customers.
Blue Heart Energy aimed to have the BH thermo-acoustic heat pump engine market ready by the end of this EIC Accelerator Project.
BHE is doing this by two development routes:
1. the development of a Minimal Viable Product and to get it tested and validated with BHE customers; and
2. the development of the mass production setup for the final market heat pump engines.
In the mean time the results are validated with future customers of BHE to ensure the new technology is taken into the production lines of heat pump manufacturers.
Heating and cooling represent 50% of the energy consumption in the EU and it represents 70% of the residential/domestic energy bill.
Heat pumps are the most energy efficient heating systems and sales are growing fast. However, despite the regulations and incentives to increase heat pump acceptance, in 2021, 2M heat pumps were sold, far from the 7M gas boilers installed that same year.
Gas boilers and fossil fuel heating systems still dominate the market, the reasons for this are:
1. Heat pumps are not a perfect fit for existing houses. They can efficiently deliver the low temperatures needed for new, well insulated, houses. But they can’t provide the high temperatures needed for the radiators of existing, not so well insulated, houses.
2. Heat pumps are expensive compared to the gas boilers that they need to replace.
3. Heat pumps are noisy.
4. Heat pumps still use HFC refrigerant gases with high global warming potential.
Current heat pumps use the vapor compression technique, that has been in the market for more than a century and has limited room for significant performance improvements. Therefore, there is a need and an opportunity to disrupt the heating and cooling market using a new technique.
Blue Heart Energy (BHE) has developed a new engine/component for heat pumps, using thermo-acoustics. The thermo-acoustic technology can replace the vapor compression core of heat pumps.
Blue Heart enhances the performance of heat pumps. Heat pumps with Blue Heart inside:
1. Are suitable for both new and existing houses, as Blue Heart can efficiently deliver both low and high temperatures.
2. Are easier to produce and to install, reducing the cost for the end customer.
3. Are silent.
4. Do not use any HFC refrigerants.
Blue Heart will enable the replacement of gas boilers with heat pumps, boosting their adoption by end customers.
Blue Heart Energy aimed to have the BH thermo-acoustic heat pump engine market ready by the end of this EIC Accelerator Project.
BHE is doing this by two development routes:
1. the development of a Minimal Viable Product and to get it tested and validated with BHE customers; and
2. the development of the mass production setup for the final market heat pump engines.
In the mean time the results are validated with future customers of BHE to ensure the new technology is taken into the production lines of heat pump manufacturers.
The activities and main achievements of the project are:
Project Management, IP management, contract and supplier/partner management and dissemination:
o The IP house has been constructed and an umbrella patent has been filed
o Potential additional patents have been identified
o Relations with numerous suppliers have been established
o Dissemination activities have been executed
Product validation and market alignment:
o Intensive lab testing has been executed
o Intensive market consultation activities have been executed
o The go-to-market strategy has been further refined based on the findings within the project, with respect to market segmentation and product requirements
o A very good match of BHE’s USP’s with the market requirements has been established and confirmed
o LOI’s with strong commercial partners have been established
o Blue Heart Energy managed to identify its Blue Ocean and premium markets where it has the highest added value. For typical Blue Heart clients it means that they enter the largest residential heat pump with a fit for purpose product where Propane based solution can not fulfil the requirements.
Development of the Blue Heart and related interfaces:
o In several steps and by developing intermediate models the objectives have been realized. The development process has been continued, going through optimization and learning cycles reaching the level of the MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
o Valuable experience and learnings has been built up with the integration and testing of the BHE engine into a customers heat pump application.
o Endurance and performance testing of the BHE units has been successfully continued.
Development of the BH assembly and (mass) production:
o It has been decided not to do the 0-series production within the project, but to develop and test the components that are required for the initial production series.
o Involvement and qualification of production partners that are able to do serial manufacturing has been achieved, as well as the testing of critical production processes and procedures.
o Supplier relations have been established for heat exchangers, piston/cylinder, pressure vessel, regenerator and actuator.
o A blue print of the production line has been developed.
o Financing has been secured to set up the pilot production facilities.
o BHE is ready to establish its first production line and to run first productions
Project Management, IP management, contract and supplier/partner management and dissemination:
o The IP house has been constructed and an umbrella patent has been filed
o Potential additional patents have been identified
o Relations with numerous suppliers have been established
o Dissemination activities have been executed
Product validation and market alignment:
o Intensive lab testing has been executed
o Intensive market consultation activities have been executed
o The go-to-market strategy has been further refined based on the findings within the project, with respect to market segmentation and product requirements
o A very good match of BHE’s USP’s with the market requirements has been established and confirmed
o LOI’s with strong commercial partners have been established
o Blue Heart Energy managed to identify its Blue Ocean and premium markets where it has the highest added value. For typical Blue Heart clients it means that they enter the largest residential heat pump with a fit for purpose product where Propane based solution can not fulfil the requirements.
Development of the Blue Heart and related interfaces:
o In several steps and by developing intermediate models the objectives have been realized. The development process has been continued, going through optimization and learning cycles reaching the level of the MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
o Valuable experience and learnings has been built up with the integration and testing of the BHE engine into a customers heat pump application.
o Endurance and performance testing of the BHE units has been successfully continued.
Development of the BH assembly and (mass) production:
o It has been decided not to do the 0-series production within the project, but to develop and test the components that are required for the initial production series.
o Involvement and qualification of production partners that are able to do serial manufacturing has been achieved, as well as the testing of critical production processes and procedures.
o Supplier relations have been established for heat exchangers, piston/cylinder, pressure vessel, regenerator and actuator.
o A blue print of the production line has been developed.
o Financing has been secured to set up the pilot production facilities.
o BHE is ready to establish its first production line and to run first productions
The project results are described in the previous sections. The potential impact is defined by is the uptake of the BHE technology into heat pumps of major European heat pump manufacturers.
Future needs to reach success depend on:
- further investments in Blue Heart Energy
- performing further research to overcome remaining technical issues and reduction of costs while maintaining performance
- keep working on securing BHE IPR to stay ahead in the market
- make higher temperature heat pump heating part of performance (ErP / Labeling) indication to be able to benefits against conventional heat pump technology
- update standards for the validation of heat pumps and safety regulations fitting to the thermoacoustic technique; existing rules do not always fit smooth to our product, they are designed around compression technology. This is why the thermoacoustic is not always valued and might act blocking properly.
Future needs to reach success depend on:
- further investments in Blue Heart Energy
- performing further research to overcome remaining technical issues and reduction of costs while maintaining performance
- keep working on securing BHE IPR to stay ahead in the market
- make higher temperature heat pump heating part of performance (ErP / Labeling) indication to be able to benefits against conventional heat pump technology
- update standards for the validation of heat pumps and safety regulations fitting to the thermoacoustic technique; existing rules do not always fit smooth to our product, they are designed around compression technology. This is why the thermoacoustic is not always valued and might act blocking properly.