Our researcher in the Trinity Team, Dr Ajeet Pratap Singh, has been exploring various avenues by carrying out a series of assessment to come up with a hybrid grease trap (GT) integrated with a thermal recovery unit to harness the maximum potential amount of heat embedded in the wastewater. The hybridization will improve the grease removal efficiency of the GT and the new optimized design of the thermal recovery unit will harness a larger amount of energy from the wastewater inside the GT which has, so far, been flushed down the sewer.
He says: ’A high temperature gradient looks very fruitful for considerable thermal recapture. I am currently digging into every possible aspect to come up with innovative solutions and to seek the best opportunities to make a versatile device in a more economical way’.
The research approach involves experimental as well as computational methods in order to explore the concept in full. Based on the encouraging outcomes of the initial stages, it can be expected that the system’s ability to recover heat will result in lower energy demand for water heating by the primary heating unit (in most cases a boiler). This would also mean lower energy bills for domestic and industrial kitchens and commercial food services outlets, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, where the main energy source is fossil-based.
These objectives well fit in with the EU Green Deal policy in which the wastewater sector is recognized as a vast source of renewable energy and its recovery certainly minimizes the net primary heating demands of various sectors.
Glimpses of the ongoing research: lab testing of the hybrid grease trap designs