ERA has expertise in:
University of Birmingham
Research at the Birmingham Centre for Thermal Energy Storage (BCTES) aims to provide a balance between energy demand and supply and utilise the waste heat generated through various applications; including energy produced from energy generation or industrial processes.
The Birmingham Centre for Cryogenic Energy Storage (BCCES) is the first centre in the UK to have a research facility for energy storage using cryogenic liquids. Research includes novel cold storage materials, new thermodynamic cycles and the cold economy.
Research at the Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage (BCES) looks at the challenges for meeting the future demands to provide cold and power in both an environmentally and economically sustainable way.
Advanced facilities at the University of Birmingham are being used to further understand the operation, control and management of smart grid systems, powered by energy from distributed sources.
Partner Universities
Thermal Belt
The Thermal Energy Systems in the Built Environment Centre (TESBEC) at the University of Loughborough focuses on early stage development of cold and hot thermal technology integration, thermal energy materials formulation and thermal (very hot through to very cold) energy storage solutions.
Bioenergy
The European Bioenergy Research Institute (EBRI) at Aston University leads the 5BIO Midlands Research Accelerator. Research will focus on catalyst development, production and characterisation, thermal process development, biofuels and chemicals production and heat and power system evaluation.
Sustainable Thermal Energy Technologies
Research at the Sustainable Thermal Energy Technologies laboratory at the University of Warwick looks into low carbon heating and cooling technologies including heat driven refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumping systems, solar heating system and thermo-chemical energy storage technology.
Collaborative
Backed by £10m funding from the Thermal Energy Research Accelerator (T-ERA), the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) together with the University of Birmingham and Loughborough University have developed the 'Factory in a Box' concept that deploys custom-designed mini-factories into established manufacturing operations across the world.
The Factory in a Box (FIAB) concept is a modular approach to factory design, where the manufacturing process is segmented into a number of pre-fabricated elements which can be transported to the desired location.
Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 has been heralded as the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ and promises to transform the way we manufacture products; improving productivity and competitive advantage. It aims to leverage digital technologies to create cyber-physical systems and informatics to create ‘Smart Factories’ of the future.
T-ERA will leverage Industry 4.0 and FIAB techniques to produce the next generation of innovative, thermal energy technologies at scale.