Wednesday 6 March 2019

Trials to turn waste to hot water fire up across UK

An innovative technology able to use household waste to heat hot water is now being trialled across the UK.

HERU takes household waste items such as nappies, plastics, crisp packets, cardboard boxes, coffee cups and even food, before heating them in the absence of oxygen.

This allows pyrolysis to occur, converting the waste into char and releasing oil and gas.

The system cleans the oil so it is safe to dispose of and uses the gas and heat that’s been produced in conjunction with a domestic boiler.

A single cycle of the HERU can produce a 30°C temperature rise for around 70 to 120 litres of water a day, which is equivalent to a full bath.

Three ten-month trials, which have been co-funded by Worcestershire County Council, will test three different types of fuel - Hillers Farm Shop will use commercial food and packaging, Rugby Borough Council will use domestic housing resources and Wychavon District Council will use office materials.

The trial at Wychavon has now commenced, to be followed by the other locations shortly.

The units will be monitored in order to assess progress around energy efficiency, usability and qualification criteria for the Renewable Heat Incentive for cardboard, paper, food and garden trimmings.

Nik Spencer, Founder and Inventor of the HERU, said: "After hundreds of hours of rigorous testing at our engineering facility, where we basically tried our best to break it and find its weak points, testing all materials produced in the home.

"It’s exciting to now test the HERU in real-life scenarios and the data and feedback we get from these trials will mean we can take the final steps in bringing this innovative product to market."