Explore our Expertise

Thermo Challenges Ltd provides consultancy and cutting-edge engineering solutions to reduce CO2 emissions, energy usage, and operational costs for various industries in the UK, Europe, and beyond.

Our systems will help you to overcome your thermal challenges and turn them into a competitive advantage.

About us

Impact for industry

Thermal recovery

Thermal recovery systems aim to capture and reuse waste heat generated during industrial processes. This recovered heat can be utilised for powering other industrial processes or space heating, reducing the need for additional energy inputs. The benefits include reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, energy conversation and cost savings.

Water recovery

Reclaiming and reusing water from industrial processes reduces both the demand for freshwater and the production of wastewater. This leads to environmental and economic benefits: the conversation of freshwater resources, the reduction of wastewater discharge and operational efficiency.

Scrubber replacement

Scrubbers are used to remove pollutants from industrial exhaust gases. Upgrading or replacing scrubber systems with more efficient technologies can result in several benefits, such as improved air quality, compliance with regulations and resource optimisation.

Return of investment

Our team or engineers will design a solution that is not only taking into account the technological challenges but provide solutions that are also economically viable and cost effective. Our designs are known for their short payback periods of sometimes less than 12 months.

Our services

Assessment of Recovery Potential

For a first assessment of your recovery potential, we require basic information about your hot and cold streams, temperatures and flow rates. Our experts will then conduct detailed analyses to quantify the savings and environmental benefits achievable, laying the groundwork for effective system improvements.

Design Services

Our design team will create tailored solutions that enhance plant efficiency. We develop advanced thermal recovery systems, water recovery mechanisms, and scrubber replacements, ensuring optimal integration with your existing processes for maximum performance and cost-effectiveness.

Numerical Simulation

Utilising cutting-edge numerical simulation tools (CFD, 0D/1D), we model and predict the performance of proposed systems and components before implementation. This allows us to optimise designs, troubleshoot potential issues, and ensure that the systems will operate efficiently under real-world conditions.

Production Supervision & Commissioning

We provide hands-on supervision during the production and commissioning phases, ensuring that every component is installed correctly and operates as intended. Our team works closely with your staff to facilitate a smooth transition and address any challenges that arise during implementation.

Life Cycle Assessment

Our life cycle assessment services evaluate the environmental impact of your systems from inception to decommissioning. We analyse the sustainability of materials, energy consumption, carbon footprint and waste production, helping you achieve your environmental goals and regulatory compliance. We also support you in achieving ECO Labels for your products, processes, and services under EU/UK regulations.

Consultancy

Thermo Challenges Ltd. offers expert consultancy services to guide you through every step of improving plant efficiency. Whether you need strategic advice, guidance or technical support to tackle your thermal challenges, our experienced engineers provide the insights and solutions necessary to achieve sustainable industrial operations.

About us

Thermo Challenges Ltd offers a variety of consultancy and engineering solutions to reduce CO2 emissions, energy usage, and address other industrial challenges. Since 2004, we adapt cutting-edge technologies based on Heat Pipes, that we have developed and successfully tested in various industrial settings. These include innovative Heat Pipe Heat Exchangers for energy-intensive industries and the recycling of industrial water, materials, and heat with our patented Heat Pipe Condensing Economiser. Our engineering services are complemented by Advanced Scrubber Replacements, other heat transfer solutions, and the optimization of industrial processes using digital simulation tools. Additionally, we provide support in communication, public relations, and marketing for your sustainability efforts.

Our clients include leading industrial players in chemical, aluminium, and steel production, as well as manufacturers of ceramic tiles, car parts, and computer hardware. We have implemented our designs and services in food factories, oil rigs, and mining operations. Our technology is utilized in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America.

Thermo Challenges Ltd. is legally based in the UK and collaborates intensively with strategic partners in Germany and Italy.

Ready to explore your solutions?

Contact us to learn more about our services and how we can help your business thrive. Whether you’re based in the UK, Europe, or beyond, our international team is here to support you every step of the way.

Contact us

Thermal Recovery

Optimising energy efficiency in production plants has its limits. Waste heat is unavoidable when products or hot air needs to cool down – especially in industries requiring high temperatures. The good news: the high amount of excessive heat offers industries great potential for increasing efficiency, reducing their energy input and saving costs.

When it comes to thermal energy recovery, heat exchangers play a critical role. With their help, waste heat can be channelled to other processes within the same facility. Waste air flow can be recovered to preheat combustion air, for example.

To address the specific challenges of different industries, Thermal Challenges has developed and patented different types of technological solutions, which will collect waste heat from waste streams of the industrial processes and this heat will then be used for other industrial processes, such as automotive parts heat treatment or tiles drying, for example.

Heat Pipe Technology
Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger
Heat Pipe Condensing Economiser
Digital Twin Capabilities

Heat Pipe Technology

Heat pipes are at the core of our thermal solutions, as they are an incredibly efficient tool to recover heat from one industrial process, allowing the recovered heat to be used in a different process.

A heat pipe transfers thermal energy passively from a hot to a cold stream by a boiling condensation cycle inside a hermetically sealed metal tube. In this way, heat from the hot area can be transferred very efficiently to a cold part of the pipe.

The sealed pipe contains a working fluid. Absorbing heat at the lower end, the liquid vaporises and carries the thermal energy upwards to the condenser section, where it encounters a lower temperature. As a consequence, the vapour condensates (back to a liquid) and thereby releases heat. The liquid runs down the inner walls back to the evaporator section where the process starts over again

Thermal Recovery
Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger
Heat Pipe Condensing Economiser
Digital Twin Capabilities

Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger

Within a heat exchanger unit many heat pipes work together in parallel in a container where the hot production steam passes by at the bottom to heat the liquid inside the tubes. At the other end of the heat exchanger, cool air flows along, absorbing the heat of the condenser sections. This heated air can now be transported to parts of the production line where it can be re-used.

The challenge: within the production lines there are different exhaust streams at different compositions, flow rates and temperatures that could possibly damage the system. With more than 100 units designed and commissioned for various industrial sites, our team will develop the optimal design and select the right materials for the heat pipes so that the thermal recovery will work efficiently inside your plant’s environment and within the temperature range applied. Moreover, our team will ensure that the re-use of the recovered heat in the recipient processes will not compromise the quality of the production process.

Thermal Recovery
Heat Pipe Technology
Heat Pipe Condensing Economiser
Digital Twin Capabilities

Heat Pipe Condensing Economiser

Similar to a Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger, also a Heat Pipe Condensing Economiser (HPCE) contains numerous heat pipes that work in parallel within a container, where hot exhaust air passes through the bottom, heating the liquid inside the tubes and transferring the heat to a stream of fresh air or water. The HPCE has an additional feature, that it also collects water from the humid and hot exhaust air as it condenses on the exterior of the pipes, dripping to the bottom of the unit. This dual recovery of heat and water makes the HPCE an efficient solution for industrial applications with humid waste streams.

The animations show the heat pipe principle operating within the context of a HPCE. The sealed pipe contains a working fluid. Absorbing heat at the lower end, the liquid vaporises and carries the thermal energy upwards to the condenser section, where it encounters a lower temperature. Consequently, the vapour condensates (back to a liquid) and thereby releases heat. The liquid runs down the inner walls back to the evaporator section where the process starts over again.

Traditional heat exchangers face several challenges in industrial settings due to corrosive and fouling exhaust gases, which contain particulates or suspensions that can settle on the surface. The fouling caused by solid particles and other contaminants can be effectively mitigated in an HPCE through appropriate design and the application of coatings or surface treatments.

Our team has developed this concept design within the EU funded project iWAYS and is currently installing, commissioning and testing three units in for a steel tube manufacturer in Spain, a chemical factory in Sweden and for the ceramic industrial site in Italy. These installments are used to recover water vapor generated during moisture removal processes or from combustion. As part of this assignment, we have developped both numerical models of fluid dynamics and coating or surface treatments to optimise HPCE functioning.

Thermal Recovery
Heat Pipe Technology
Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger
Digital Twin Capabilities

Digital Twin Capabilities

At Thermo Challenges Ltd., we leverage cutting-edge digital numerical simulation tools, including Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and 0D/1D simulations, to create detailed physical digital twins of proposed systems and components. By modeling these systems virtually before implementation, we gain a comprehensive understanding of their behavior and performance. Our multi-approach numerical modeling includes thermo-fluid-dynamics simulations of complex phenomena, such as multi-phase and multi-component flows and multi-physics modeling. This advanced capability ensures that every aspect of the design is thoroughly evaluated, allowing us to visualize complex fluid dynamics and thermal interactions.

Utilizing these digital twins allows us to optimize designs by identifying and addressing potential issues early in the development process. By simulating real-world conditions, we can test various scenarios and configurations to find the most efficient and effective solutions. This proactive approach helps us refine and enhance system performance, leading to more robust and reliable designs. Additionally, our software-in-the-loop solutions for control system optimization enable us to fine-tune control strategies, ensuring that systems operate at peak efficiency and reliability.

Beyond design optimization, our digital twin technology supports ongoing system monitoring and maintenance. Once a system is in operation, its digital twin can track performance, predict maintenance needs, and identify areas for improvement. This continuous feedback loop allows for proactive management, ensuring that the system operates at peak efficiency throughout its lifecycle. By integrating physical digital twins and multi-approach numerical modeling into our consultancy and engineering services, Thermo Challenges Ltd. provides clients with innovative solutions that enhance reliability, reduce costs, and improve overall operational efficiency.

Thermal Recovery
Heat Pipe Technology
Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger
Heat Pipe Condensing Economiser