Home Energy Resources Unit

The Home Energy Resources Unit or Home Energy Recovery Unit (HERU) is a prototype kitchen appliance which is claimed to use household waste to generate energy.[1]

Operation

Household waste, both organic and inorganic, is placed into a main chamber. Plastic and cardboard packaging as well as food waste can be inserted as fuel, and the waste does not need to be sorted or separated.[2] It then goes through an eight-hour cycle. The chamber containing the waste is heated to 100° celsius to evaporate water and remove oxygen. The temperature is then increased and pyrolysis takes place. Oxygen is then re-introduced to allow incineration of the pyrolised waste for water heating. After eight hours, a tankful of stored hot water is produced, and all plastic, cardboard and organic waste is reduced to gas and ash. The gas is then used in a domestic boiler, and the ash can be flushed safely into an ordinary sewage system. Any glass or metal waste is left in a clean state.[3][4]

History

The invention won a grant from the UK Government's Innovate UK Energy Game Changer Fund.[5] The technology won the 2017 Environment and Sustainability Group Prize of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.[6]

References
  1. Gregory-Kumar, David (2018-04-04). "New gadget turning waste into hot water". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  2. "Machine transforms household trash into fuel". Reuters video. 2 July 2018.
  3. "New kitchen appliance turning rubbish into hot water". BBC.co.uk. 4 April 2018.
  4. "Personal Incinerators Are One Man's Vision of the Future". Gizmodo.co.uk. 4 April 2018.
  5. "World's first EFW hybrid boiler gets government backing". utilityweek.co.uk. 16 March 2017.
  6. "Energy, Environment and Sustainability Group Prize". Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 16 December 2016.
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