Contributing to “Wells of Life Ireland”, protecting the first Welsh Bible and learning to innovate at the same time

Dr Katrin Dreyer-Gibney

Looking back on 2019, two events stood out within the Dwr Uisce Network. One was the official opening of the micro-hydropower turbine installation in the Blackstairs Group Water Scheme site, Co. Wexford, Ireland earlier this year. This low-cost installation reduces energy consumption from water treatment and distribution works by 20-25%.

 And there is more to it. Cost savings resulting from the hydropower installation are donated to the “Wells of Life Ireland” Charity. This Charity helps to provide clean water sources for people in Uganda who don’t have access to safe water. A second installation launch took place in November, in Ty Mawr, Snowdonia, Wales. This time the energy generated is set to protect 200 rare Bibles, including the first Welsh translation from the effects of climate change. Increased rainfall and damp are affecting the manuscripts. Now the plan is to use electricity generated from a stream nearby to control humidity levels.

Daniele Novara demonstrates micro-hydropower installation to water industry representatives in the Blackstairs Group Water Scheme

Daniele Novara demonstrates micro-hydropower installation to water industry representatives in the Blackstairs Group Water Scheme

 Ty Mawr is a 16th Century farmhouse. It was the birthplace of Bishop William Morgan, whose translation of the Bible into Welsh in 1588 has been described as the most significant step in ensuring the survival of the language today. Both events were primarily designed to officially launch and demonstrate the installation to national water treatment site managers, industry representatives, government officials and the press, so they could “spread the word”, see the benefits and perhaps be interested in installing and supporting the technology also.

 Besides the positive contributions these installations make to society, the official opening events provided learning opportunities also, for practitioners and researchers alike. Not only did they learn about new hydropower technology, but they learned to innovate also. Innovation has many different definitions. In the context of this innovation project, the one that fits best is developing solutions to existing problems. Learning to innovate means acquiring the capabilities to find solutions to existing problems, in this case finding solutions to address the problems of greenhouse gas emission and high water energy costs.

So, what exactly was learned?

Setting the Scene

First of all, the organisers of the events learned how best to create environment that facilitate learning to innovate, to put in place the logistics such as the support staff transport, catering, the timing of events, so that the learners could just focus on the learning, nothing else.

Facilitate Questioning

Both events were attended by water industry and government representatives, site managers and researchers from the fields of engineering, geology, environmental studies, and management. It had to be ensured that all were comfortable to ask  questions, both formally and informally. After the initial welcomes, presentations where held by both researchers and site managers, facilitating initial questions.

Then the demonstration site visits followed which in Ty Mawr included a hike up to the water source and a tour of the farmhouse, holding the bibles. The attendees were subdivided into smaller groups, so they could ask plenty of questions about the installations, how they worked and assess how the technology could work in other places. Back at the event location lunches were providing, offering more opportunities for asking questions, discussing installation opportunities and networking. Throughout the event it was emphasised that both researchers and practitioners are learners and teachers.

More Questions, more answers…

More Questions, more answers…

 Learning about Barriers and Enablers to Innovation

Deriving from all the questions asked the participants learned about the barriers and enablers to innovate. The barriers were, for example, the volume of data required to assess the feasibility to install the turbine, and the variation in their local environments. However, there were many enablers also, for example, the belief amongst all that this was the right thing to do and the availability of research funding.

 Overall, site managers, water industry representatives and other practitioners learned about energy recovery possibilities in their own operation facilities. The researchers learned how to diffuse their new inventions.

 Both practitioners and researchers learned how to manage demonstration events and promote continuous innovation, a capability that is vital to address sustainability issues in the 21st century.



Collaboration with South Caernarfon Creameries in Wales

Annum and Isabel visited South Caernarfon Creameries in Wales on the 26th November to discuss opportunities for water and energy savings at their plant. The creamery who is led by a farmer cooperative converts about 400,000 liter per day into cheese and delivers to major supermarket chains throughout the UK. Iestyn O’Neill, head of engineering, gave them a tour around the whole site, from the milk silos to pasteurisation, cheese making and packaging. As hygiene standards for a creamery require frequent cleaning with hot water, there seems to be plenty of potential for heat recovery from drain water and we are delighted to work together with SCC and support them on their way of becoming even more water and energy efficient. Thanks for the very insightful tour and also for the cheese treats J Looking forward to our collaboration!

Annum (2nd from left) and Isabel (3rd from left) meeting Iestyn O’Neill at South Caernarfon Creameries for collaboration on efficient water use

Annum (2nd from left) and Isabel (3rd from left) meeting Iestyn O’Neill at South Caernarfon Creameries for collaboration on efficient water use

Reducing energy cost and greenhouse gas emissions by households in Wales

by Annum Rafique

There are approximately 27.6 million dwellings in the UK, which includes houses, flats, mansions, bungalows and park homes. Each year less than 160,000 new homes are being built in the UK. The existing homes undergo renovation over time but the speed of improvement is slow.

These dwelling thereafter referred to as households, consume one-third of the total energy produced in the UK. The main uses of energy in the household are for space and water heating. The energy consumption in households contributes more than a quarter to the total UK Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

Approximately 75% of the houses in Wales are built before the 1980s due to which Wales has a higher proportion of solid-wall homes and properties off the gas grid. Solid-wall homes are more expensive to insulate. Therefore, the Welsh homes would need individual low-carbon heating solutions, which may cost more per household than the larger decarbonisation of the gas grid.

One of the greatest challenges that water sector faces is the cost effectiveness of decarbonising the sector. The reluctance of households and industry to adopt low or zero-carbon technologies (LZC) usually stems from the additional cost associated with introducing these measures.

The carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from housing have fallen more than one-fifths from the 1990s despite an increase in the number of homes. The likely reason for the reduction in emissions is due to an increase in building efficiency and lower emissions from switching to an alternative heating source. If the UK wants to become a zero net carbon economy by 2030, it needs to reduce the energy consumption in households.

A study is being conducted to estimate the marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) for water-related energy efficiency measures. The MACC approach is a framework used to identify cost effective low-carbon technologies available for domestic use and determine which mitigation methods are the most cost effective in saving energy as well as in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions.

What is Marginal Abatement Cost Curves (MACC)?

Figure 1 MACC analysis

Figure 1 MACC analysis

The MACC is a tool that aid in decision making by identifying the projects that are the most cost effective per unit of CO2 equivalents abated. It also identifies which project or intervention offers the greatest abatement potential.

The MACC provides a visual representation of a group of abetment projects listed down from the most cost effective per tonne of CO2 abatement to the least cost effective option. Figure 1 shows how MACC are represented.

On the vertical axis is the cost per tonne of CO2 abated and on the horizontal axis is the potential CO2 saving in tonnes per year. The MACC provides a visual representation of a group of abetment projects listed down from the most cost effective per tonne of CO2 abatement to the least cost effective option.

MACC allows us to asses all the expected potential costs associated with the low carbon technology such as operating, maintenance and other costs through the lifetime of the technology.

MACC of photovoltaics (PV) systems in households

Figure 2 MACC analysis for small houses

Figure 2 MACC analysis for small houses

The abatement potential of replacing different kind of boilers with photovoltaics (PV) is measured.

The data for the energy use of households was taken for Gwynedd, Wales from the EPC website. The data consisted of 1,399 houses over 10 years from 2008 to 2018. The houses were of various sizes however, they all use used electricity for water and space heating. While developing MACC, variations in house sizes, types and fuel use was considered.

Energy consumption increases with the size of houses. Furthermore, detached and end-terrace houses consume 30% more energy as compared to semi-detached or mid-terrace houses of similar size.

The fixed installation cost of the PV system is £1,500 with variable costs ranging from £5,320 to £8,512, depending on the size of the system.

Figure 2 shows the MACC for small houses of size between 1 to 55m2. By the uptake of PV system for space and water heating, these houses would be reducing their energy costs by up to 50%. Moreover, the installation of PV would result in an overall savings of £800 to £22,000 per tonne of CO2 abatement. Furthermore implementing PV system in 243 houses of smaller size would save up to 370 tonnes of CO2 every year. These houses, on an average, would be reducing their energy costs by more than a half.

Similar MACCs were created for houses of various sizes and implementing PV systems in all 1,399 houses in Gwynedd would save up to 2,759 tonnes of CO2 each year. Furthermore, it would result in households reducing their energy costs by up to 70%.

However, PV systems are not the only LZC available to consumers. A detailed analysis of other LZC would be conducted to provide complete information to the consumers so that they can make an informed decision.

Updates on Tŷ Mawr small-scale hydropower demonstration site

Energy generation during November 2019 = 1,605.3 kWh of active power (+220% with respect to October). On 20/11/2019 the power curve of the inverter controller was substantially modified, and a few minor sensor flaws were addressed which resulted into trends well observable in the following charts.

Translating and communicating research into actionable knowledge/practices

by Szu-Hsin Wu, Paul Coughlan

Dŵr Uisce is an interdisciplinary project which was preceded by the earlier Hydro BPT project. To date, Dŵr Uisce has implemented energy recovery solutions developed from conceptualisation and laboratory tests to full-scale installations at four demonstration sites: Blackstairs Group Water Scheme (Ireland), ABP Foods (Ireland), Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant (Wales) and Penrhyn Castle (Wales). Dŵr Uisce is also expanding the research scope in new directions such as hydropower in deep mines, environmental impact assessment and citizen science. The overarching goal is to achieve green innovation.

Dŵr Uisce is focused on green innovation and actively considers commercial potential and the environmental and ecological impact. Developing a viable and environmentally sustainable response to customers’ demands is a critical challenge. So, in designing the response it is necessary to accommodate the user expectations, climate trends and environmental regulations. Without understanding the perspectives of the various stakeholders, implementation of green innovation is difficult especially where it requires the support of industries, local communities and authorities. However, through our communications, knowledge exchanges and stakeholder engagements, we have heightened public awareness of water-related issues caused by climate change and engaged industries and local communities and authorities in collaboration.

The Dŵr Uisce researchers are disseminating our findings in three main formats: 1) publishing scientific studies; 2) organising workshops and demonstrating new technology; and 3) online and print media exposure. The researchers are presenting new findings at international conferences across Europe where stakeholders from academia and industry are engaging with the ideas. Both academics and practitioners participate in our annual conferences where conceptual knowledge and insights are translated and exchanged through face-to-face communication. Now, we are aiming to engage an even broader audience in discussion and collaboration on water-related issues. Further development of online platforms and social media provides us with enhanced opportunities to translate and communicate our research ideas into actionable knowledge for end-users, the wider public and the research community.

To engage with these wider audiences, we are translating our scientific findings into plain language, which is not always easy. Such translation needs to be based on an understanding of the audience background and expertise. Based on the understanding, we make conceptual knowledge accessible by writing in simple and engaging manner, describing the challenges and solutions in different ways, and using images and practical demonstrations. The result is that the audience develops a better understanding of the challenge, research response and the action possibilities. For example, in preparing our website updates, the Dŵr Uisce researchers invite lay audience representatives to read and comment before we publish online. The feedback and comments help the researchers to clarify and deliver a focused message. This acts as an internal peer-review process. We use images and other multimedia to create a closer connection between science and our audiences. On twitter, we share water distribution and energy recovery related information and build a more personal connection with our audience by using simple language and keeping them in the loop of every research step. The result is that the public is not only well informed by the latest updates but also appreciates the relevance of this green innovation initiative to daily life. Taking it further, the Dŵr Uisce project is giving back to the global community. The full-scale demonstration plant at Blackstairs Group Water Scheme was installed in February 2019 and the energy savings achieved are being donated to the water charity Wells for Life. Our hope is that, through translating and sharing our conceptual knowledge, it can continue to be transformed into actionable knowledge and maybe even behavioural changes: our innovative ideas can be seen, heard and even be acted upon.

To date, our research has been accepted for publications in high-quality journals. We have collaborated with over 70 organisations and companies on the efficiency of water consumption and energy recovery. We have more than six hundred twitter followers and many regular website visitors from around the world. However, communication, knowledge exchange and collaboration will continue as we work and research to achieve our goal. We are planning new workshops targeting school children, young researchers and practitioners in water-intensive sectors. In many ways, they are the future leaders who will continue to achieve green innovation. Dŵr Uisce has taken this green initiative as part of our responsibility to society as we turn it into a social innovation which co-creates value with and for the society.

First returns from the heat recovery demonstration site at ABP Cahir

By Jan Spriet

The demonstrator at the ABP meat processing plant in Cahir, co. Tipperary, Ireland aims at showing and studying the potential heat recovery from highly loaded wastewater. This wastewater is available in large volumes at the factory’s own wastewater treatment plant. In the case of this demonstration rig, part of the wastewater is pumped through the heat recovery system.

The heat recovered through through 1 single (of 6) heat exchanger stands at 30kWh after one night. The total direct heat recovery system (all 7 pipes), would thus reduce the Carbon emissions by almost 36 kg Carbon equivalent per operating night.

The wastewater source heat pump produced around 65 kWh, with a COP of 3.25, on this operating night, delivering water with a flow rate of 2 l/min at 45°C, during the whole night (15 hours).

Additional tweaking of the settings will continue over the following weeks, before the system will be commissioned in its final form early 2020.

Demonstrating the pump-as-turbine as a creative means of energy recovery

The design and installation of two hydropower demonstration sites showcases the leading-edge research on Pumps-as-turbines and is one of the key deliverables of the Dŵr Uisce project. A pumps-as-turbine, in short PAT, is a hydraulic pump operating in reverse mode as a turbine, producing energy rather than consuming it. Pumps are mass produced all over the world and are well suited to this creative application. The main advantages of a PAT over a conventional hydro turbine include lower cost, compact dimensions, short delivery time, reduced installation cost, ease of maintenance and unrestricted availability of spare parts. In practice, for the same power output a PAT can cost up to 1/10th of a bespoke hydro turbine.

PAT technology can be applied either to recover energy from pressurized water networks, or as generators for conventional small-scale hydropower. In order to explore these applications, the Dŵr Uisce project team decided to build one pilot installation in a water distribution network in Ireland and the second one in a small river hydropower scheme in Wales. Despite the fact that both installations feature a similar PAT with power output of around 4 kW, the operating contexts are radically different.

The Irish installation is located at the inlet of the water treatment works serving the Blackstairs Group Water scheme, a rural network in the south-eastern corner of the country. Since the raw water source is located at a higher elevation than the treatment facility, the significant overpressure was being dissipated by a water jet splashing into the raw water storage tank. Potential energy was wasted while the treatment plant drew costly energy from the national grid. In a creative initiative, which had the support of the local community and the plant operator, a PAT was designed and installed in a bypass of the valve regulating the inflow to the tank. The regulatory aspects were straightforward, since the only requirement was to request permission from the operator of the electricity network - Electricity Supply Board (ESB) - to connect the PAT in parallel to the grid. Now in operation, the PAT is offsetting the electricity consumption of the treatment works by 20-25%.

In contrast, the Welsh installation consists of a micro hydro scheme to supply the historical farmhouse of Ty Mawr Wybrnant. The PAT is fed by diverting a small flow from the Afon Wybrnant, a river near the town of Betws-y-Coed. When compared to the installation at Blackstairs, more significant civil works were needed to build the intake weir, lay 300 m of buried pipeline and to erect the shed housing the turbine. In addition, applications had to be filed to obtain planning permission and a licence for water abstraction. While the licence would have allowed for the installation of a 20kW micro hydro scheme, it was decided to limit the power output to 3.68 kW, sufficient to supply the adjacent historical farmhouse. In addition, the grid connection procedure was simplified by using a G98 type-approved inverter of the kind normally used for residential solar photovoltaic (PV).

The lessons learned during the process are significant. We learn how to make a better choice of the electrical equipment which controls the operation of the PAT. For example, the first inverter installed at Ty Mawr Wybrnant did not work and had to be swapped for another one of different kind. We now also able to identify ideal locations for a PAT installation.

To sum up, both demonstration sites prove the feasibility of PAT technology for small scale hydropower in different operating contexts. With reliable power output of around 4 kW, both sites are expected to be economically viable with a return of investment between 5 and 8 years. More importantly, they are environmentally viable.

The waste water heat recovery system at ABP Foods is delivered

The front view of Waste Water Heat Recovery system

The front view of Waste Water Heat Recovery system

The back view of Waste Water Heat Recovery system

The back view of Waste Water Heat Recovery system

A collaboration between the Dŵr Uisce project and ABP Food has been established which has started in early 2018. In this context the industrial process at ABP demonstration site offers a unique opportunity to investigate the potential of waste water heat recovery technology in the food processing sector. This technology can help towards improving environmental, energetic and financial performance of the facilities. The system aims to subtract the heat from wastewater and can be set up at different locations in the wastewater stream. When the recovered heat is plugged back into the hot water provision, this leads to a potential energy saving of up to 80 MWh per year, when installed on the effluent of the wastewater treatment works, its current location. This results in a reduction of carbon emissions of up to 12 tons per year

The system consists of different types of heat recovery, including preheating of the incoming feed water, but also delivering hot water at 45°C using a wastewater source heat pump. The system is capable of switching between both operating modes, and of applying bot at the same time, depending on the local conditions. Now, the heat recovery system has been installed on the premises at ABP food group in Cahir. The technology can be employed to recover energy from wastewater generated in the meat processing.