TEAPOTS · agriculTurE wAste PyrOlysis and Thermocomposting for renewable energy in Sustainable agri-food sector

TEAPOTS aims to give agri-food players an innovative integrated, modular, and flexible solution to meet local and seasonal energy demand through the valorisation of lignocellulosic and difficult to be treated agricultural waste while producing biochar. The first valorisation process will employ pyrolysis to extract heat from waste. Heat will be employed by an Organic Rankine Cycle to produce electric energy, which will be employed by a Dry Cooler & Oil-free AWC to cool down cold rooms for storing agri-food products. The second process will extract heat using a Compost Heat Recovery System to harness hot water from the oxidation of biomass while producing compost. Heat will be used to provide sanitary hot water. These technologies will be integrated in the TEAPOTS Integrated Solution, TIS, to demonstrate the feasibility of the entire process using all the modules to provide refrigeration. Biochar and compost will be used as plant biostimulants to increase yields and store carbon in soil improving the environmental footprint of the end-user. Feedstocks to be used in the TIS will be mixed to improve energy production and products’ quality. Field and satellite data will be gathered to evaluate biomass growth, while the TIS operational data will be used to evaluate the environmental impact, through LCA analysis, and the overall functionality of the solution. Data will be integrated in a database which will allow the prediction of waste biomass production. This will be used by a Data Driven Decision Support System (DSS) to improve field and waste logistics, which will provide the means to keep the TIS up and running. The prediction system and the DSS will be integrated in the TEAPOTS Digital Platform, which will have an easy-to-use user interface to help end-users in the management of the entire solution. A Multy-Actor Approach will be employed to create a network of biomass producers interested in using agricultural waste to improve their environmental impact