ITerum Energy has created new market opportunities within the renewable energy industry through a capability to convert a variety of energy sources into a range of useful utilities.
Cullen Ryan, Director of Applications Engineering/Commissioning
ITerum Energy provides some of the most basic elements of modern life, i.e. electricity, heating, cooling, and potable water by harnessing a range of renewable energy sources. This is accomplished through a variety of means, all of which involve the production of electricity or transformation of heat energy sources. ITerum Energy transforms renewable energy resources into desirable and economically advantageous utilities, turning overlooked energy sources into profit.
Our mission is to provide solutions for Global Energy and reduction of Carbon and Heat Pollution. The ITerum Power System provides large cost saving in processes, electricity from heat pollution, and new energy source options for our customers.
Useful and Profitable Utilities
ELECTRICITY
ITerum Energy can generate electricity through the conversion of waste heat in a thermodynamic cycle. This power production means is especially attractive if the source of waste heat is "free", otherwise being exhausted to the atmosphere as pollution. This approach increases the utilization of the source energy, which: increases the efficiency of the overall process, provides cost savings, and creates revenue streams for the process owner.
ITerum Energy can also convert electricity generated by renewable means, such as solar photovoltaic and wind power, into products like heating and cooling. Examples where these heating and cooling loads might be used include: helping to raise steam within an industrial facility, and at a vacation resort to provide space heating, water heating, and air conditioning. This conversion process eliminates carbon emissions in the production of useful and profitable utilities.
In both cases, ITerum Energy can store the respective resources for timely and on-demand deployment, reducing peak loads on existing electrical infrastructure. Electricity can be stored in batteries and supercapacitors, while heat energy can be stored "thermal batteries" (chemical, absorption, molten salts).
HEATING
ITerum Energy can supply heat through a number of means. We can capture and/or generate waste heat from renewable resources such as solar thermal, geothermal, biomass and industrial processes. Examples where this thermal energy might be used include: processes heating within industrial facilities, and district heating for commercial and residential applications.
Waste heat recovery is best conducted on-site or near the point of use, as heat is not easy to transport over extended distances. Utilization of waste heat provides: increased efficiency of existing processes, reduction of carbon and heat pollution, and opportunities to generate revenue streams from recycling energy that would otherwise be dissipated to the environment.
COOLING
ITerum Energy can use electricity or waste heat, both derived from renewable sources, to produce chilled water for air conditioning or refrigeration. Cooling is important for preservation and safety of food and medicine, industrial processes where heat must be removed, and providing healthy, comfortable indoor environments.
Producing chilled water can be accomplished via absorption chillers or conventional vapor compression refrigeration depending on the source energy. Absorption chilling is driven by waste heat, is noiseless and has no moving parts, leading to minimal maintenance and low operating costs.
Since cooling can be produced from waste heat (or "excess" energy), absorption chilling increases the efficiency of the process from which the heat was derived. Further, given that people in industrialized countries spend much of each day indoors, there exists a opportunity to generate significant revenue streams providing comfortable indoor environments.
POTABLE WATER
Many areas of the world have water constraints for crop irrigation, industrial uses, and potable water for drinking. Recognizing this widespread opportunity, ITerum Energy™ employs cutting-edge technologies for the production of potable water. We can utilize various renewable energy sources and our propriety conversion systems to produce heat and electricity to drive desalinization and purification processes.
Already, modern cities such as Cape Town, South Africa are struggling to supply adequate quantities of drinking water for their populations. This scarcity provides opportunities to generate premium revenue streams and help those struggling with water shortages access to our most important, life-sustaining resource.
Renewable Energy Resources
waste heat
A vast quantity of waste heat is generated worldwide on an annual basis. There is more waste heat produced by industrial activities than all other renewable energy sources combined. Because waste heat energy streams from industrial processes are produced on-site, the fuel-free and pollution-free electricity generated by ITerum Energy™, will be consumed onsite. This reduces operating costs, minimizes transmission line losses and provides a valuable revenue stream for customers.
biomass
Biomass is a widespread and versatile renewable resource. Some examples of biomass include, wood products such as forest debris, agricultural wastes, manure, and municipal sold wastes. These sources can be burned to raise steam to produce electricity or converted to other useful products, such as energy carriers like biogas and transportation fuels.
ITerum Energy provides solutions for biomass processes that produce “biogas.” While the combustion creates electricity directly, the waste heat from this combustion can also be used to create additional pollution-free electricity. Both the electricity and waste heat can be used to produce heating, cooling, and potable water.
geothermal
Geothermal power plants release less than four percent of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by coal plants, and present a smaller footprint per-megawatt than almost any other power production process.
The potential for utilization of thermal energy at lower temperatures than conventional geothermal power production allows us to use lower cost shallow wells. The availability of these "low grade" shallow wells are ten-fold that of standard geothermal wells. We are also able to utilize the waste heat from the traditional geothermal steam turbine process to produce utilities of interest to customers.
solar
Solar thermal energy has long been underestimated, Wind power and solar photovoltaics have been assumed to be the leading technologies for producing power from intermittent sources. However, we believe that solar thermal can become larger than either wind power or photovoltaics, both in terms of worldwide installed capacities and in terms of the quantity of renewable energy produced.
To exploit the solar resource, we have developed both heliostat and parabolic trough collectors, as well as thermal storage. These technologies are used for small and medium scale power and process heat projects. Thermal storage allows the energy collected during peak availability to be utilized later to provide electricity, heat, and cooling.
Most importantly, the ITerum Energy solar energy system has been designed to be competitive with power generated from fossil fuels, providing process heat and cooling without the need for rebates, subsidies, or tax credits.
HYDRO
Hydropower produces the largest contribution to utility-scale power among the various renewable energy sources. Many locations in the world have resource opportunities to generate power at smaller scales from the movement of water, e.g. tidal wave and river sources. ITerum Energy™ has partnered with developers of disruptive hydro-kinetic technologies to produce power from these numerous, overlooked renewable resources. The resource is sustainable, and the technologies exhibit minimal impact on the environments in which they are immersed.
wind
Low environmental impact wind turbines have been developed that can produce power from winds at less than 3 mph to greater than 80 mph. These vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are smaller than typical three-bladed utility turbines, less expensive, smaller in size, and uniquely suited for application in remote locations or underdeveloped economies.
Many wind resources unsuitable for utility-scale turbines can be harvested effectively and profitably using innovative VAWTs procured from our development and commercial partners. Electricity produced from these wind installation can be used to produce heating, cooling, and/or potable water, all of which represent potential revenue streams.