Making Better Use of Industrial Waste Heat

Specifically, it involves a combination of a screw-spindle expander—which converts thermal energy from waste heat into mechanical energy during gas expansion—and a screw-spindle compressor, which uses that mechanical energy directly to compress a gas. Thanks to the special design of the screw-spindle expander, with counter-rotating rotors, the resulting bearing forces remain well under control even under significant pressure differentials. This ensures wear-free and energy-efficient operation, for example, when used in large heat pumps.
Increasing Sustainability in Industry
Together with the Research Legal Affairs Department within the Finance and Procurement Division and PROvendis GmbH, the CET supports and guides inventors from the initial idea through the patenting process to the successful commercialization of their invention and the conclusion of corresponding contracts. As a result, the rights to the patented invention have now been sold to the French company Cixten. The company specializes in the recovery and conversion of low-temperature waste heat into usable energy. “For us, this development stemming from scientific research is another important building block for improving our technologies and increasing energy efficiency and sustainability in industry,” explains Philippe Wagner, CTO and founder of Cixten.
