Renewable energy company partners with UT, test new ceramic technology
A Franklin renewable energy company is set to test new high-temperature ceramic filter technology with the University of Tennessee.
The grant-funded research will allow Enexor BioEnergy to get information about ceramic fibers, a product used in units for electrical, thermal and sound insulation.
The driver to use ceramic fibers is its energy and cost saving characteristics — it dissipates less heat while being able to withstand high temperatures.
Enexor's product, Bio-CHP, thermally oxidizes organic waste by using high pressure and temperatures to covert the waste into renewable energy.
The idea is by converting the waste at its creation site, rather than having to transport it to a landfill and it sit there, the company can curb and offset harmful emissions.
Each unit, enclosed in a 20-foot shipping container, can annually reduce up to 2,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. That's equivalent to taking almost 480 passenger cars off the road for a year.
"We are excited to partner with UT and Dr. Penumadu to test and further improve upon our innovative ceramic filter technologies,” said Lee Jestings, Enexor’s Founder and CEO.
UT Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Dayakar Penumadu said that the strength testing and gas flow analysis will help accelerate the technology's development.
"[The research] will significantly improve the probability of success and expedite commercialization of these filters," said Penumadu in a press statement. "Both in Enexor’s renewable energy system and for other commercial applications.”
The ceramic fiber technology will be tested through RevV, a program created between the state of Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and UT Knoxville.
Reach Arcelia Martin at amartin1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @arcelitamartin.
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