Energy efficiency, the innovation they bring to their markets, the optimization of processes and the improvement of the performance of different technologies are some of the criteria that have been applied by an expert jury for the selection of the 18 projects that will be part of this exclusive space.
A total of 18 projects have been chosen to be part of the INNOVATION GALLERY of the International Energy and Environment Fair, GENERA 09, which will be held at Feria de Madrid from May 12 to 14. The criteria followed by the jury, composed of a group of experts of recognized prestige in the Spanish energy sector, to make their decision have been the innovative nature of the proposals presented, as well as their impact on energy efficiency and the performance of the different technologies.
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The INNOVATION GALLERY, which is convened for the second time within the framework of the Salon, has become the ideal platform to disseminate the results of research carried out in the public and private spheres. The main novelty of this edition has been its open nature: any company or institution has been able to present its proposals, free of charge, regardless of its link with the fair. The only requirement has been that the project has an effective and market-oriented application.
The success of the call and the purpose of this tool, to promote the development of renewable energies in the Spanish market based on practical examples, consolidates the commitment of the event, organized by IFEMA, for this exclusive space within GENERA.
Selected companies and projects:
Photovoltaic solar energy
It is the technology that will have more representation in the INNOVATION GALLERY with six selected projects.
Avoid overheating and increase performance, in addition to the durability of the facilities are some of the objectives resolved by the companies that will present their proposals in this space. Among them is the INTEGRABUS system developed by BP Solar, which solves the problem by mounting the electrical connections in isolation. For its part, SWIVEL SUN, the solar tracker designed by Efener Enginyeria, bases its innovation on a mechanical design and a control system that optimizes the performance of a photovoltaic plant between 25% and 30%, compared to a conventional static fixing structure, and that extends the useful life of an outdoor installation up to 25 years. While Greenpower presents in the INNOVATION GALLERY a new modular inverter of direct current in alternating current for large photovoltaic installations that, thanks to its 'master-slave' technique, allows to always have conversion units in rest, which means an improvement of more than 0.5% in the generation of energy of the plant.
To extend the efficiency of a thermal or photovoltaic installation, the company Procesos Y Soluciones Solares has devised a protection system for the collectors of these plants, called KUBERTOR, which, through temperature sensors, is activated or deactivated according to the needs. In addition to protecting the system from overheating, this structure also prevents breakage due to hail. For its part, Eurener presents in this call of the INNOVATION GALLERY an autonomous solar lighting system especially suitable for sites that are difficult to access the electricity grid, such as urban, rural or naval environments.
The latest project in the photovoltaic technology segment facilitates the linking of this generation model with architecture. Vidursolar has managed to combine the traditional functions of building enclosures with design, providing the possibility of choosing the color of photovoltaic modules or the inclusion of screen prints. A proposal that offers the architect a wide range of possibilities for a modern, ecological and sustainable architecture.
Energy efficiency
The construction is also one of the two projects selected for improving energy efficiency. This is the ALEXANDRA BUILDING, presented by the engineering company Abac Enginyers, a complex of 168 VPO homes in Sabadell, which has obtained the energy rating "A", the maximum that can be granted to a building and that identifies the constructions that produce the lowest possible CO2 emissions. This score has been achieved thanks to the incorporation of innovative construction solutions, both of architectural passive elements (orientations, natural ventilations ...) and of model installations in lighting, heating, cooling and production of domestic hot water based on a geothermal heat pump. The replicability of this project has been one of the aspects that the jury has valued the most.
The search for energy efficiency has also been the objective set by the company Eco-Raec with its MULTIPLATE RAMP project. The device is intended for places where there is high road traffic, and allows to transmit the energy produced by the vehicles that circulate on the road to generators, without emitting any type of polluting waste. The energy can be used in street lighting, road light signals, and all kinds of electronic devices present on the roads.
Biomass
Two projects for the generation of electricity from biomass have also been chosen to be part of the INNOVATION GALLERY of GENERA 09. In this context, the firm Enreco 2000 has developed the GRAU PROCESS, which reduces the volume of emissions, multiplies the energy power of the biomass and saves a step in the transformation of the raw material into energy, by carrying out the process in two stages: first the dry distillation of the wood is done and then the gasification of the obtained charcoal is carried out. For its part, Eratic presents its ELECTROTERM plants, a pioneering trigeneration system that produces a combination of heat, cold and electricity, using biomass as fuel. This technology has already been applied in a hospital south of Paris, where 625 KW electric and 3,160 KW thermal have been produced, to meet the needs of hot water, heating and air conditioning of the center. Thus, the emission of more than 4,500 tons of CO2 has been avoided.
Wind energy
The wind sector will also be represented in cutting-edge space with three projects, two of them dedicated to mini-wind energy.
In this context, the company Esdras Automática, using a 'sub-blade' structure, has managed to reduce the mass of a conventional wind blade by 41.7%. This reduction implies significant cost savings in the components of a windmill, but does not affect the energy generated, since the simulations carried out during a full year have managed to produce 2.9% more energy than a conventional mill. In this same section, Teican Ambiental shows the advantages of WINDSPOT. A tool that, equipped with small wind turbines with passive orientation, allows to regulate the power of a mini-wind farm and increase its productivity. Likewise, the firm Mariah Power exhibits a novel project for this technology: the WINDSPIRE, a wind turbine of 1.2 KW vertical axis and without propeller, made of 95% with recycled materials, which will take advantage of the power of the wind at low altitude
Cogeneration
The cogeneration sector is represented in the INNOVATION GALLERY with two other projects. On the one hand, the Cidaut Foundation has developed a compact cogeneration plant from lignocellulosic biomass that can produce 100 kW of electrical energy and up to 200 kW thermal energy. A process made from a 'poor gas' that serves as fuel to power four engines coupled each to a generator. The second project selected comes from the company Turbomach, which has presented two turbines for cogeneration: TITAN 250 and MERCURY 50. Devices that increase the energy efficiency of plants, as they improve their performance by 40%, while reducing fuel consumption thanks to their ability to recover heat. In addition, this technology allows to reduce NOx emissions by up to 90% and CO2 emissions by 30%.
Wave generation
The WEDGE PROJECT, dedicated to wave generation, or electrical energy produced from waves, has been Wedge Global's commitment to the INNOVATION GALLERY. The generator designed by this company is based on a concept of multi-translators – the mobile part of the generator – that eliminates scalability problems and would allow the development of high-powered machines, with ranges of around 1,000 V. Its primary advantage over linear generators is its reliability, based on its mechanical simplicity due to the absence of magnets in the structure.
For its part, the University of León and Isolux Corsán have presented a project to purify wastewater through the application of biocatalytic electrolysis, from which hydrogen is finally obtained, a fuel free of polluting emissions. This center also has another line of research open to produce and purify the hydrogen obtained from the fermentation of biowaste.
Closes the selection of products that will star in the INNOVATION GALLERY of GENERA, Grammer Solar that has developed a system of solar air collectors called JUMBOSOLAR. It is a device designed to heat rooms, either simply to heat the enclosure or for industrial processes, this system, thanks to solar radiation, heats the air and drives it to the interior of the cabin. A model that can also be used to ventilate the room, since the air always comes from the outside, and that avoids the emission of approximately 3,400 kg of CO2 per year.
More information: GENERA' 09
Authors: TECNOSOSTENIBLE - Engineering of comfort and energy efficiency
