Abstract

EM Powered Heat:
Economic Electrification through Baseload Energy Reduction of Industrial Heating and Drying

Acceleware and the International Minerals Innovation Institute (IMII) are collaborating on an ‘EM Powered Heat’ electromagnetic (EM) dryer to reduce GHG emissions in process heat for mining. The project is supported by large potash producing members, while a large producer of another critical mineral has expressed interest in potentially joining the project. Acceleware has successfully completed two of four planned phases of development work. Phase three of the project is intended to scale up our TRL 6 (100 kg/hour) dryer to a TRL 8 1 tonne/hour dryer with completion expected in Q4 2025. Phase four is a 10 tonne/hour dryer (TRL 9), and is targeted for 2026. 

The resulting dryer would be analogous to other critical minerals drying applications at commercial scale and has the potential to decarbonize drying in mining on a global scale. Acceleware is also in discussions to apply EM Powered Heat in heap leach heating, thermal fracturing applications, and conveyer drying/heating requirements.

Patented EM Powered Heat is unique in that it can decarbonize industrial process heat quickly and economically by displacing fossil-based heat with EM energy while reducing base load energy consumption. The technology uses EM properties existing within all materials to heat molecules directly, greatly reducing energy losses and equipment footprint. It enables intelligent sensing and real time tuning to optimize heating for each application even as EM properties change during the process. It is this intelligent sensing and real time tuning that resolves the main challenge of high-power electrified heating operations – reducing energy consumption to drive economics. EM Powered Heat is flexible and can scale from a few kilowatts to many megawatts, with temperatures ranging from 40ºC to 2000ºC.

Reduction of base load energy requirements is the fundamental benefit of EM Powered Heat. The technology combines high efficiency (>98%) conversion of electricity to EM energy with the ability to couple that energy directly to target molecules, significantly reducing heat transfer losses and ensuring that more input energy becomes useful heat. The result for most process heat applications is an energy input reduction of 50% or more. Additionally, the technology could:

• Eliminate scope 1 GHG emissions;
• Lower GHGs by 50% or more for most applications when grid powered; 
• Run on intermittent power, reducing the burden on the grid to electrify;
• Support broader decarbonization of industrial process heat via electrification with a system that can help balance, rather than overload the grid, and;
• Maintain current footprint, minimizing operating costs, and reduce maintenance.

The heart of EM Powered Heat is the Clean Tech Inverter (CTI). Having developed and proven the CTI over 15 years and with CAD $50 million in investment (and in collaboration with GE Global Research), Acceleware is positioned to rapidly adapt and then deploy this technology to a wide range of applications.