Rondo Energy to provide heat battery technology

The RHB is designed to meet the demanding needs of industry for safe, simple, low-cost energy and economically replaces fuel-fired furnaces and boilers—unlocking energy prices for industries that are both affordable and more predictable. When connected to the grid, the RHB can make use of otherwise curtailed solar and wind energy, cut the cost of clean energy, and strengthen grid stability and security. Rondo is manufacturing its heat batteries in its facilities in California and has begun commercial deliveries.

RHBs are easily integrated into facilities alongside existing process heating equipment, delivering large-scale emissions reductions without a facility overhaul. The heat battery models available today are designed for a wide range of industrial uses and directly replace the operation of fuel-fired boilers, furnaces and kilns. Both models are fully automatic, charge intermittently either from local wind or solar facilities or from the grid, and deliver heat on demand 24 hours a day.

Rondo’s thermal core uses brick materials that have been producing steel for over a century in a new patented configuration. Charging in as little as four hours, the 'brick toaster' rapidly and uniformly heats these brick materials to deliver continuous, constant temperature heat, 24 hours a day.

Applications and industries

From food processing to fuel production, from cogeneration to calcination, the RHB delivers energy in the form needed for more than 90% of the world’s industrial process heat. RHBs are easily configured to serve the unique capacity and temperature requirements of each facility. The RHB units are direct drop-in replacements for large industrial boilers.

Rondo’s simple, low-cost technology delivers unique value in these key areas:

• Fast charging. Rondo heat batteries charge in as little as four hours, capturing zero-carbon energy at the absolutely lowest costs, when the wind is blowing and sun is shining.
• High temperature. RHBs deliver heat at up to 1500°C.
• Long service life. With fully automatic operation using proven subsystems and materials, RHBs offer a 40+ year life without performance degradation.
• Safety. RHBs are intrinsically safe, made of completely inert materials, and fail-safe in all loss of power or process upset conditions. Made of only brick and iron, the hazards of other energy storage technologies are eliminated.
• Site efficiency. RHBs store more than 1 MWh per square meter, far denser than any other storage technology, and preserve critical plant area.

Rondo Heat Batteries enable a simple, practical switch to zero-emission electricity as the source of continuous high-temperature heat for processes across a range of industries, including steel, cement, chemical, pharmaceutical, low-carbon fuels, food and beverage, and mining industries. Unlike electric furnaces or electric boilers, Rondo Heat Batteries are a load that follows the available renewable generation, being dispatched by the grid operator or the renewable energy fields to charge but delivering consistent firm heat to the industrial facilities.

As a result, RHBs deliver electrification at the absolute lowest cost and create no additional peak loads on the electricity grid, while enabling the integration of more renewable electricity generation. Rondo Heat Batteries maintain continuous output power (95% annual capacity factor) while operating on input power as low as 15% capacity factor (4 hours a day).

Beyond direct industrial heat supply, the RHB is a least-cost source of energy for other applications, including district heating and combined heat and power, providing 24/7 clean heat and power.

Rondo SVP Jeremy Keller said, “Rondo’s mission is simple: lower cost heat and energy for large industrial processes. We’ve been excited by the work now underway with key customers. We’re finding that deep emission reductions are now both practical and affordable for many of the world’s most energy-intensive facilities. Our studies of customer facilities are showing 50% to 90% reductions in emissions and reductions in operating costs of 30% or more.”

Rondo Heat Batteries deliver large, concentrated, permanent emissions reductions and provide an immediate, low-cost, practical way to repower the giant industrial heat market. A single RHB300 eliminates more than 40 000 tpy of CO₂ – more than is eliminated by 8700 electric vehicles. Replacing just the industrial heat used today in California with RHB zero-carbon heat would eliminate five times more CO2 than all of the EVs on the road in the US today (13.6M EVs).

“With early manufacturing now underway, Rondo is open for business. We’re thrilled to be announcing the launch of the RHB100 and RHB300 and look forward to serving our customers with first installations in 2023,” said Rondo CEO John O’Donnell.

“The Rondo Heat Battery could prove critical to eliminating emissions, and its commercial availability will help companies turn to its zero carbon heat for their processes,” said Carmichael Roberts, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “The Rondo Heat Battery will help companies in industries such as cement, fuels, food and water desalination to begin leveraging the falling costs of renewables without modifying their facilities.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/product-news/21112022/rondo-energy-to-provide-heat-battery-technology/