Horizon 2020 – Dream-Project
The Dream project, supported by the EU programme Horizon 2020 for Research and Innovation, started with a kick-off meeting in Brussels, which was attended by eleven representatives of the European ceramics industry and ceramic research centres.
Dream (Design for Resource and Energy efficiency in ceramic kilns) brings together some of the major players in European ceramic technology and aims at developing innovative solutions for kilns in ceramic production.
The project has been funded by the European Community with € 5 mill. and during the next three years is aimed at the development, construction and validation of technologies to obtain a significant reduction in energy consumption and pollutant emissions. The final output will be an innovative kiln to be marketed by Sacmi in 2019.
The study will focus new engineering technologies for kilns in the ceramics industry:
a biofueled CHP unit
study of a tool for modelling, simulation and control of the firing parameters
the use of new exchangers to recover waste heat
coatings and new refractory materials to improve kiln insulation
a new device for monitoring and reducing kilns emissions
The European Commission is supporting this project with two objectives: first, to produce concrete and measurable improvements in people’s real life: from a 20 % reduction in energetic consumption, to a 20 % cut in operational costs, up to a 30 % reduction in emissions. Second, these technologies should permit a quick payback – in less than 3 years – for the end user.
The possibility of technological transfer to other and different industrial sectors with a high consumption of thermal energy will be also carefully evaluated.
Eleven partners are involved in the project under the lead of Sacmi (Italy) and with the support of CRIT (an Italian company devoted to technological innovation):
Rath (Germany), a world leader in the manufacture of refractory products, supported by the research institute Forschungsgemeinschaft Feuerfest
Keraben Grupo (Spain) and Mirage/Atlas Concorde (Italy, both leaders in the production of ceramic tiles)
Econotherm (UK), specialist in waste heat recovery technology, supported by Brunel University (UK)
UNIMORE (University of Modena und Reggio Emilia, Italy) in charge of the numerical and theoretical analysis of the firing process
Synesis, a specialized company in manufacturing process innovation
Sacmi Imola S.c.r.l.
www.sacmi.com
