Professor Brent Young’s research for the University of Auckland’s Innovative Manufacturing and Materials Programme is underpinned by the concept of enabling technologies. The aim of his recent work is to help organisations save money by optimising their process operations, while simultaneously extracting value from untapped resources. As part of a major government and industry funded project Brent has been examining the design, build and optimisation of Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs) that take low quality energy – currently a discarded byproduct in many operations – and turn 30 April 2016 it into useful, usable power. As well as the evident environmental benefits of minimising waste and increasing sustainability, the improved systems work more efficiently than existing models and therefore create potential for significant monetary savings. Brent, his colleague Dr Wei Yu, and their team of researchers are helping New Zealand industry to develop this innovative technology in conjunction with the Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA). Brent’s work for HERA encompasses both research and development: his research focuses on generating models for efficient designs and effective control of power cycles, as well as creating simulations of plant performance under a range of conditions. The understandings gained in this respect are being used to create smarter design strategies that maximise efficiency. The development component of Brent’s work has seen those strategies and systems implemented in working plants for testing and appraisal. Brent and Wei both lecture in the Faculty of Engineering’s Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering where they also supervise a number of research students. This particular programme of work has been undertaken by the Industrial Information and Control Centre (I2C2), a group dedicated to conducting research and training, and to upskilling technicallyproficient students. Brent says: “I2C2 was set up nine years ago to be a flagship of this kind of expertise for New Zealand. We have a laboratory, but it’s the people that are the centre of the expertise. Our aim is to create good results for industry – to transfer our ideas for use in businesses, and produce positive economic outcomes for New Zealand.” The centre is funded by government, with additional funding from tertiary institutions. One of their research students is Matthew Lie, who is currently pursuing a masters degree. Matthew completed his fourth-year project on the Organic Rankine Cycle, which was subsequently presented before an industry panel where it caught the attention of HERA. He is now investigating how the ORC design could be optimised to produce more power. Matthew’s research falls under HERA’s ‘Above Ground Geothermal and Allied Technologies’ (AGGAT) programme. New Zealand’s substantial geothermal activity provides plenty of potential for developing enabling technologies, and the Organic Rankine Cycle is at E N V I R O N M E N T WASTE-HEAT INDUSTRIES COULD BENEFIT FROM UNUSED RESOURCES (From left to right) Matt-Boaz-Wei - Matthew Lie (Master student), Boaz Habib (AGGAT project manager for HERA) and Wei Yu. (Image – ORC model)
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