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The need
Heavy process industries use huge amounts of electricity. For example, this project discovered that mineral production alone uses 3% of the world’s electricity output. Improved system efficiencies offer big savings and CO2 emission cuts against a backdrop of rising energy prices.
The UK’s domestic power supply ‘alternates’ at 50 cycles every second. However, many largescale industrial processes need power that alternates at radio frequency – typically several million cycles every second. This project enables energy to be converted to radio frequency power in a more efficient, cost effective and controlled way.
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The results
In this project, e2v led a consortium of industrial and academic partners to develop a highly efficient, radio frequency, pulsed power system for industrial processing (HiPPoS). The initial aim was to make a major reduction in electricity demand by heavy industrial processes that use pulsed power (big, quick pulses of energy) at radio frequency.
One obvious application is the minerals industry, which uses electricity to break down ores in order to extract precious minerals. Here, the project forecast energy savings of a whopping 60%.
New direction
However, the consortium conducted a market survey which revealed that there was greater demand from heavy industrial users for efficient generation of continuous power (non-pulsed power)
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So the project pursued improvements in both types of radio frequency power, with the target of providing solutions for both markets.
The consortium combined the latest high frequency power conversion R&D from the University of Nottingham, Dynex Semiconductors’ class-leading power control and conditioning technology, and e2v’s range of industrial radio frequency and microwave generators.
It predicts that adoption of this radio frequency process technology, by even a small number of the users within the large industrial process sector, will significantly improve process yields while reducing electricity demand and CO2 emissions.
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Market potential
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The University of Nottingham calculated that even a few percentage points’ improvement in efficiency of processes using pulsed radio frequency power would avoid huge amounts of electricity being generated. For example, the mineral processing sector could save 250GWh of electricity each year.
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Additionally, the university anticipates a similar reduction in electrical demand for non-pulsed radio frequency power in the oil, waste processing and recycling industries, making a total of about 500GWh per year. This is equivalent to the electricity consumed by about 250,000 UK residents.
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‘Without this investment, we would not have discovered the much bigger continuous wave power market that changed our direction.’
e2v
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Project
H0056A
Project partners
e2v, University of Nottingham,
Dynex Semiconductor
Technology Strategy Board investment
£680,000
Total project investment
£1.4m
Project contact details
Dr Paul John
e2v Technologies (UK) Ltd
106 Waterhouse Lane
Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 2QU
E paul.john@e2v.com
T 01245 453309
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