Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. Secures Over $2 Million in DOE Funding
Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) is proud to announce its selection by the Department of Energy (DOE) for a groundbreaking project aimed at transforming industrial bakery operations through the development of an Energy-Water-Emission Recovery (EWER) system. With funds exceeding $2 million, this initiative represents a significant step towards decarbonization and sustainability within the food and beverage sector.
This project is part of a $171 million U.S. DOE announced program for Industrial Decarbonization. The official press release can be found here, https://www.energy.gov/eere/iedo/funding-selections-fy23-industrial-efficiency-and-decarbonization-multi-topic-foa. The DOE states that the Food and Beverage industry accounted for an estimated 10% of total energy use for U.S. manufacturing, as well as 10% of greenhouse gas generation.
The DOE’s investment will support ACT and its strategic partners in the creation and testing of a lab-scale and full-scale prototype for the EWER system. The EWER system will capture the waste energy, moisture, and water-soluble Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emissions (ethanol) from oven exhausts for on-site use, thereby offering significant energy saving and contributing to reduced carbon emissions in bakery, and overall food and beverages industrial applications. The proposed technology will have significant impact on oven operations for its superior energy efficient improvement and reduced carbon emission capability. The technology is suitable for any applications that have exhaust of high-quality heat, water and volatile gases such as ethanol. ACT’s main collaborator for this effort is Smart Heat Inc. (SHI) a company that focuses on technologies for recovery and utilization of latent energy from wide spectrum of industrial and commercial exhausts.
Key aspects of the project include the design of equipment components, the development and testing of a comprehensive EWER prototype, and the execution of full-scale design and system validation. The anticipated outcomes of this initiative include a remarkable reduction in energy carbon intensity by over 60%, energy consumption by 60%, and water consumption by 20% compared to conventional baking systems.
“We’re excited to bring cutting-edge sustainability to the traditional, industrial process of baking. By harnessing the waste energy, moisture, and volatile organic compounds generated during baking operations, we have the potential to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the food and beverage industry.” said Srujan Rokkam, R&D Manager at Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc.
The collaboration with the DOE underscores a shared commitment to advancing technologies that contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future.
About Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc.
Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) is a premier thermal management solutions company, providing design and manufacturing services to meet our customers’ needs across all points of the product lifecycle. We serve our global customers’ thermal management and energy recovery needs in diverse Markets including Defense, Aerospace, Power Electronics, HVAC, Medical, Enclosure Cooling and Energy. We specialize in providing innovative and performance-optimized thermal management technologies and systems that meet the unique needs of each customer.
About Smart Heat Corporation
Smart Heat Inc. is a woman owned and operated business based in Skokie, IL. They have a wide spectrum of expertise in heat, water and energy recovery technologies. More information on SHI can be found on their website.