SERETech Ltd., has developed a disruptive non-thermal method of killing bacteria using a combination of elevated pressure CO2 and low intensity sonication. We have called this patented technology ‘Elevated Pressure Sonication’ (EPS). EPS is a market creating innovation that brings a step change to the Dairy Industry by enabling the production of new Extended Shelf Life (ESL) products that offer a flavour profile similar to their fresh counterparts thanks to the ability to achieve safety with a reduced thermal load. Our innovation can effectively inactivate microorganisms and spores at 40-50ºC, resulting in products with an extended shelf-life of at least a 4-fold increase with enhanced nutritional and sensorial profiles, as well as obtaining 5-fold reductions in energy usage compared to currently used pasteurisation processes and cutting process times by half. Moreover, the application of the technology to side-streams (buttermilk, whey and desludge) enables their recovery, thereby reducing waste, improving resource efficiency, increasing yields and enabling processors to leverage Circular Economy models. This novel solution has enormous potential to address and overcome key commercial, technical, social and environmental challenges that are faced by the dairy industry worldwide. The technology has been developed to pilot scale and demonstrated in industry to TRL6. Our aim is to leverage the SMEI to scale up to a customer fit-for-use continuous modular flow unit that will be suited to easy retrofit in existing dairy processing plants, and to commence commercialization in the global dairy industry as a first application (extending the applications then to other beverage processing and brewing). In Phase 1, we aim to perform an application-focused technical feasibility study in cocreation with industry early adopters, an assessment of the regulatory requirements for commercialisation, and a comprehensive market assessment that will inform our 5-year business plan.

Ohmic heating is an alternative fast heating method for food products that results in less thermal damage than conventional heating. In Ohmic heating, foods are made part of an electric circuit and heat is generated within the foods due to their electrical resistance. The process offers advantages such as rapid uniform heating, reduced surface fouling, high energy efficiency and high quality food products. Ohmic heating has potential to be dominant in the food processing industry. However, the potential is supressed by technical deficiencies such as electrode design problems, inefficient pump design, and lack of control in electrical conductivity, which limit the technology’s extensive application. Ohmic heating currently processes 8% of the global fruits and vegetables production, but if the technical incapacities are solved, it has the potential to process over 35% of this sectors requirements, creating a market opportunity of €85 billion. OHFASTT give breakthrough Ohmic heating technology capable of producing high quality food through advanced engineered solutions to problems that have hampered the uptake of Ohmic heating. This will realise a new commercially attractive technology to the EU and global markets. Food processing companies will benefit through a15% reduction in energy use and a subsequent 8% reduction in energy costs. This will reduce CO2 emissions by 16.6% and thus prevent the emission of a total of 326,808 tonnes of CO2 globally every year. They will also benefit through a 40% reduction in processing time and a greater price value for their products. In total this will save customers €63,000 annually per installation compared to conventional installations and a combined total of €6.6m annual savings across the EU. This innovation project will play a significant role in advancing our commercialisation strategy. Phase 1 will enable market, technical and financial feasibility assessment prior to product finalisation and demonstration with a customer.

‘C-Flow PLT’ is a new design of electrochemical cell and plant, offering much higher capacities – 4x flow rates - than are possible with current stack designs. It is a modular pilot plant offering a step change in flexibility and reduced development costs for use by academic and industrial R&D users. Current designs are stack systems with multiple adjacent cells in an arrangement similar to a heat exchanger or filter press. There is an inherent constriction to the flow of electrolyte into and out of each cell in this design. This means that increasing flow rates lead to high pressure drops across the equipment and capacity is limited: capital costs are high. We will prove our concept of a very high flow rate electrochemical plant by designing and building a four cell system including test rig, and balance of plant, with a target linear flow velocity of 1ms-1 across the electrodes, corresponding to 75 litres/min of both anolyte and catholyte per cell. The flow rate is four times that of comparable current cell designs and is a step change increase in the operational capacity of electrochemical pilot plant, approaching production scale volumes but with a much smaller footprint and an order of magnitude difference in cost. The design is modular – each cell is contained in its own cassette. This allows flexibility of operation. Individual cells can be switched in and out of operation for maintenance with drybreak couplings and with no disturbance to other cells. It also allows easy scale up and addition of capacity. This project will prove the concept with a four cell system and test rig, designed for 300 litre/minute operation of both anolyte and catholyte and 4000Am-2 current capacity. The unit will be evaluated on three different chemical systems, demonstrating the usefulness for treatment of dilute systems (e.g. waste water), viscous chemical synthesis requiring high turbidity (and therefore flow rate), and synthesis requiring high volumetric flows.

The principal objective of InterCityAir is to develop and test the feasibility of an outdoor air quality (AQ) sensing unit that could be linked to a city's traffic management system to improve flow and thereby reduce pollution hot-spots from queuing traffic. The InterCityAir project will develop, build and test the AQ sensing system against current monitoring standards and equipment. Protocols to integrate the AQ data with Chester city's Siemens STRATOS traffic management system will be established and trialled.The InterCityAir sensing units will be scalable to a city-wide network of AQ sensors to implement this integrated data platform across Chester, strengthen the local air quality management and improve citizen health by reducing air pollution build-up. The InterCityAir project will ensure the AQ data accesible is made accessible to a wider group of stakeholders as well as the public. The sensor network proposed will be scalable to ultimately provide higher resolution air quality data for the Chester area.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.