IIT Kanpur leads UI-Assist Project: Opens a new thermal energy storage system on-premises

On Thursday, the Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur inaugurated thermal energy storage system of 775 turn/hour capacity leading the UI Assist Project of the United State and India. This new storage unit has been established at the Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE) building on campus.

New Technology at IIT-Kanpur

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UI Assist kickstarts with the establishment of a specialised power storage unity at IIT- Kanpur. Funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), through Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, New Delhi, this joint venture of US-India aims at developing smart grid and storage technology.

The new thermal power warehouse has been developed as a part of UI Assist's urban demonstration plots. This program further has 4 more such exhibitive units under the categories of rural, semi-urban, and urban/institutional settings.

What's is this new technology?

The Director at IIT Kanpur stated that the new storage of 775 turn/hour capacity is very effective in bringing a balance to the system by reducing the rising load of air conditioning and peak power demand. Employing the latest adaptive concept of phase change material with a Brine solution coolant which can achieve a temperature of -4 degrees by using low cost energy during off peak hours, the new system will be able to support the AC load during peak period for 77.5 TR for 10 hours.

The Director also highlighted how this technology can be used in a Smart City and data application centres to effectively cut down on the energy expenditure- thus promoting sustainable growth and development.

The project has kickstarted under the able guidance of Prof. SC Srivastava, Prof. Santanu Mishra and Prof. Ankush S of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the institution. The execution is supervised by Vinay Kumar Tiwari of the executive engineering in IIT-K's works department.

Shiv Kumar Singh from the electrical engineering department is the research establishment officer and Prof Sameer Khandekar from the mechanical engineering department has provided assistance and periodic guidance in the selection of technology. Kehems Technologies, Indore is the official service provider for the project.