A team from NPUST, including Professor Hudson Hsu, Professor Chang-Hsien Tai, Researcher Yaoyu Tsai, and student Yukai Liu have successfully developed a “Green Energy Wind Powered Air Compression & Storage Heat Pump System”, which serves as an environmentally friendly sustainable solution to the question of how to convert and store of renewable energy. This and other related technology were presented at the 2023 MTE Malaysia International Invention Exhibition, which is ranked by the Ministry of Economic Affairs as one of the top ten invention exhibitions in the world. At the exhibition, their inventions won one silver and one bronze.
This ESG green energy system design concept uses high-pressure air storage and pneumatic power generation in combination with underground storage and insulation. Using wind energy, it creates high-pressure and high-temperature air which allows for a variety of functions. At the core of this system is an axial flow compressor that converts the pressure into electrical energy. The design includes a controller which allows for stable control of air pressure, power adjustments and power generation. The system is able to instantly convert high-pressure air into electrical energy to supply electrical appliances or store it for later use. The team’s R&D resulted in two award-winning works, including a silver medal for the “Green Energy Ship-Powered Refrigeration Locker” and the bronze medal for the ” Green Energy Wind Powered Air Compression & Storage Heat Pump System”.
The “Green Energy Ship-Powered Refrigeration Locker” was developed by Professor Hudson Hsu of NPUST and Professor Chia-Hao Ku of Ming Chi University of Technology in order to solve an efficiency problem with thermoelectric cooling modules. Their invention uses a special multi-stage oscillating compressor and a tubular wind collector to convert the swaying of the ship into high pressure air which is stored and then released from the cylinder to the locker. The high-speed and high-pressure gas has a heat-absorbing effect, and when used together with the cooling modules, it can allow for more efficient cooling. At the same time, through flash evaporation, the tubular wind collector can convert seawater into fresh water for the entire ship to use. The design is environmentally friendly and follows concepts of sustainability—it also has a low production cost.
The “Green Energy Wind Powered Air Compression & Storage Heat Pump System”, is more than a heat pump energy system. It can also be combined with a number of green energy applications such as composite microgrid systems and smart grids and provide electric energy and thermal energy support for circular economy based technologies to reduce power consumption when generating energy. For example, it can be used to improve the efficiency of biomass pellet process production and biogas production—each which require large amounts of heat, or for aeration treatment of livestock wastewater and odor scrubber systems—which demand large amounts of electricity. The technology was developed with funding from the National Science Council and the Ministry of Education. After commercialization, expectations are that it will allow for major breakthroughs in the application of green energy technology and the promotion of circular economy based industrial chains.
