Lot-NET considers how waste heat streams from industrial or other sources feeding into low temperature heat networks can combine with optimal heat pump and thermal storage technologies to meet the heating and cooling needs of UK buildings and industrial processes. Heating and cooling produces more than one third of the UK's CO2 emissions and represent about 50% of overall energy demand. BEIS have concluded that heat networks could supply up to 20% of building heat demand by 2050. Heat networks have previously used high temperature hot water to serve buildings and processes but now 4th generation networks seek to use much lower temperatures to make more sources available and reduce losses. Lot-NET will go further by integrating low temperature (LT) networks with heat pump technologies and thermal storage to maximise waste and ambient heat utilisation. There are several advantages of using LT heat networks combined with heat pumps: - They can reuse heat currently wasted from a wide variety of sources in urban environments, e.g. data centres, sewage, substation transformers, low grade industrial reject heat. - Small heat pumps at point of use can upgrade temperature for radiators with minimal electricity use and deleterious effect on the electricity grid. - Industrial high temperature waste can be 'multiplied' by thermal heat pumps increasing the energy into the LT network. - By operating the heat network at lower temperatures, system losses are reduced. Heat source availability is often time dependant. Lot-NET will overcome the challenges of time variation and how to apply smart control and implementation strategies. Thermal storage will be incorporated to reduce the peak loads on electricity networks. The wider use of LT heat networks will require appropriate regulation to support both businesses and customers and Lot-NET will both need to inform and be aware of such regulatory changes. The barrier of initial financial investment is supported by BEIS HNIP but the commercial aspects are still crucial to implementation. Thus, the aim of LoT-NET is to prove a cost-effective near-zero emissions solution for heating and cooling that realises the huge potential of waste heat and renewable energies by utilising a combination of a low-cost low-loss flexible heat distribution network together with novel input, output and storage technologies. The objectives are: 1. To develop a spatial and temporal simulation tool that can cope with dynamics, scale effects, efficiency, cost, etc. of the whole system of differing temperature heat sources, distribution network, storage and delivery technologies and will address Urban, Suburban and Exurban areas. 2. To determine the preferred combination of heat capture, storage and distribution technologies that meets system energy, environmental and cost constraints. Step change technologies such a chemical heat transport and combined heat-to-power and power-to-heat technologies will be developed. 3. To design, cost and proof of concept prototype (as appropriate) seven energy transformation technologies in the first two-three years. They consist of both electrically driven Vapour Compression and heat driven Sorption technologies. Priority for further development will be then given to those which have likely future benefits. 4. To determine key end use and business/industry requirements for timely adoption. While the Clean Growth Strategy and the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund initially support future implementation, innovative business models will reduce costs rapidly for products or services that customers want to buy and use. Thus, engagement with stakeholders and end users to provide evidence of possible business propositions will occur. 5. To demonstrate/validate the integrated technologies applicable to chosen case studies. The range of heating, cooling, transformation and storage technologies studied will be individually laboratory tested interacting with a simulated netw

Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) uses compressors to produce pressurised air while excessive power is available; the pressurised air is then stored in air reservoirs and will be released via a turbine to generate electricity when needed. Compared with other energy storage technologies, CAES has some highly attractive features including large scale, long duration, and low cost. However, its low round trip energy efficiency (the best CAES plant currently in operation has a 60.2% round trip efficiency) and low energy density cause major concerns for commercial deployment. The conversion of electricity to heat and storing the heat via thermal storage is a relatively mature and a highly efficient technology; but the conversion of the stored thermal energy back to electricity has a low energy efficiency (less than 40%) through (conventional and organic) Rankine cycles, thermoelectric generators, and recently proposed thermophotovoltaics. The project aims to develop a Hi-CAES technology, which integrates the CAES with high-temperature thermal energy storage (HTES) to achieve high energy conversion efficiency, high energy and power density, and operation flexibility. The technology uses HTES to elevate CAES power rate and also convert high-temperature thermal energy to electricity using compressed air - a natural working fluid. The proposed technology is expected to increase CAES's electricity-to-electricity efficiency to over 70% and overall energy efficiency to over 90% with additional energy supply for heating and cooling. The proposed Hi-CAES will also increase the storage energy density and system power rate significantly. Meanwhile, the technology can convert the stored thermal energy into electrical power with a much higher energy conversion efficiency and lower system cost than current thermoelectrical energy storage technologies. With the integration of HTES with CAES, the system dynamic characteristics and operation flexibility can be much improved in terms of charging and discharging processes. This will place Hi-CAES in a better financial position as it can generate revenue through certain high market value fast response grid balance service. The goal of the project is to improve both the CAES efficiency and energy density considerably through the integration with a HTES system. The research will address the technical and scientifically challenges for realisation of the Hi-CAES system and societal challenges of deep power system decarbonisation.

The provision of low temperature industrial process heat in 2018 was responsible for over 30% of total industrial primary energy use in the UK. The majority of this, 75%, was produced by burning oil, gas and coal. Low temperature process heat is a major component of energy use in many industrial sectors including food and drink, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, manufacture of metal products and machinery, printing, and textiles. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with low temperature process heat generation and meet UK targets, in the long term, will require a transition to zero carbon electricity, fuels or renewable heat. In the short term this is not feasible. We propose an approach in which heat is more effectively used within the industrial process, and/or exported to meet heat demands in the neighbouring area allowing significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions per unit industrial production to be achieved and potentially provide an additional revenue source. We are going to perform a programme of research that will help provide a no regrets route through the transition to eventual full decarbonisation. The research consists of, i) fundamental and applied research to cost effectively improve components and systems performance for improved heat recovery, heat storage, heat upgrading, high temperature heat pumping and transporting heat with low loss, and ii) develop new temporal modelling approaches to predict how these technologies can be effectively integrated to utilise heat across a multi-vector energy system and evaluate a transactive modelling platform to address the complexity of how heat can be reutilised economically within energy systems. A series of case studies analysing the potential greenhouse gas reductions and cost benefits and revenues that may be achieved will be undertaken for selected industrial processes including a chemical production facility in Hull, to assess the benefits of i) individual technologies, ii) when optimally integrated within a heating/cooling network, or iii) when combined in a multi-vector energy system.