High-temperature manufacturing industries are energy-intensive, operating furnaces at over 1000 °C continuously, leading to substantial waste heat. In glass production, up to 60% of energy is wasted, and in cement production, 44% is lost as waste heat. The waste heat recovery market, currently valued at €57 billion and growing at 9% annually, is projected to reach €108 billion by 2028. High-temperature industries (>1000 °C) account for only 3% of this market (€3.2 billion). Despite their high operating temperatures, downstream processes below 800°C offer significant waste heat recovery potential. Waste heat can be recovered from cooling grates, furnace walls, and flue gases. However, the lack of technology capable of handling high temperatures in volatile environments and the complexity and cost of conventional systems like steam turbines hinder heat recovery adoption.
A new solid-state material-based system, operating at lower temperatures (800 °C or less), could capture a larger market share. Recent studies indicate that high-temperature industries are open to adopting such systems if they prove technically efficient, commercially viable, and easy to integrate into existing production lines.
The INFERNO program will develop a hybrid solid-state Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) – Metasurface Collector (MetaS) – Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) system that can efficiently recover and recycle waste heat into electricity for high-temperature process industries by implementing three pilot demonstrators. INFERNO aims to advance thermoelectrics, and thermophotovoltaics and develop a hybrid and highly modular TPV-TEG system combined with a Metasurface-based Collector that is unique in design, can be easily and cost-effectively retrofitted and integrated for electricity production from industrial waste heat, which will the first of its kind to be tested and validated in real industrial settings.