Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EFFIKILN (Development of an efficient hydro-based, waste heat extraction system for kiln rollers in ceramic tile production)
Reporting period: 2017-05-01 to 2017-08-31
The ceramic tile industry requires large quantities of energy and has neither achieved a real maximization of heat energy utilization, nor the consequent pollution reduction. Only the heat energy supply accounts for 30% of all ceramic manufacturing business costs.
It is essential to create efficient systems such as Effikiln in the ceramic industry because, on the one hand, nowadays international and European regulations are becoming more restrictive with use of fossil energies (the main fuel for kilns where ceramic tiles are made); on the other hand, regulations and governments claim for a more reasonable use of energy and a reduction of the GreenHouse Gases (GHG) and particles emissions (which are produced in the ceramic tiles processing).
With EFFIKILN, we will implement hydro-based heat exchangers and a temperature regulation system in ceramic kilns. This will allow our end users to have the triple advantage of: being able to recover energy for re-use by minimizing losses up to 90%, reducing its environmental impact (avoiding 1,5 kt CO2/year), while maintaining the quality of ceramic products. Our objectives were to analyze the market for Effikiln, develop its technical plan, evaluate our IP and regulations and estimate a budget and financial projections. Results were positive and we will continue with the project.
It is essential to create efficient systems such as Effikiln in the ceramic industry because, on the one hand, nowadays international and European regulations are becoming more restrictive with use of fossil energies (the main fuel for kilns where ceramic tiles are made); on the other hand, regulations and governments claim for a more reasonable use of energy and a reduction of the GreenHouse Gases (GHG) and particles emissions (which are produced in the ceramic tiles processing).
With EFFIKILN, we will implement hydro-based heat exchangers and a temperature regulation system in ceramic kilns. This will allow our end users to have the triple advantage of: being able to recover energy for re-use by minimizing losses up to 90%, reducing its environmental impact (avoiding 1,5 kt CO2/year), while maintaining the quality of ceramic products. Our objectives were to analyze the market for Effikiln, develop its technical plan, evaluate our IP and regulations and estimate a budget and financial projections. Results were positive and we will continue with the project.
After a short introduction of the general idea of this project and a presentation of our company. We carried out analyses from the technical, regulatory, commercial and financial point of view. We carried out a deep market study, including analyses about the global market size and the European market status quo. We performed a search for possible partners and subcontractors and obtained agreements for both activities, a deep Intellectual Property and Regulations analysis (IPR) was carried out and the Technology Map was further defined. We also elaborated a business plan, where we established the budget, selling price of our system, steps to enter international markets and the financial projections.
By the end of this project we will be ready to produce and commercialise this innovative solution. Sales shall start in 2020 with 7 units and we will increase sales by ten units each year. After developing the business plan, we conclude that around 57 new direct European jobs will be created and we will achieve a revenue of €46.3 million and €8 million € of profit by 2024. The ROI (5 years) for Effikiln solution is estimated at 17%.