Previous Projects
European projects
The GROUND-MED project demonstrates the next generation of geothermal heat pump (GSHP) systems for heating and cooling in 8 demonstration sites of South Europe. A measured seasonal performance (SPF) higher than 5,0 was demonstrated. As the SPF is determined not only by the heat pump unit, but by its operating conditions imposed by both the ground heat exchanger and the heating/cooling system of the building, integrated GSHP systems incorporating the following technological solutions was developed, designed, constructed, installed, monitored and evaluated. A prototype water source heat pumps of improved seasonal efficiency; key technologies include the next generation of compressors, heat exchangers and automation was developed and tested. Borehole heat exchangers and heating/cooling systems operating with minimum temperature difference between them, which also follows the heating/cooling demand from the building; design aspects, thermal storage and system controls was also designs and tested.
GROUND-MED had a duration of 5 years and a budget of 7,25 million euros, comprising 25% research, 60% demonstration and monitoring, 10% dissemination and 5% project management activities. The GROUND-MED consortium consisted of 24 European organizations including a wide diversity of GSHP actors, such as research institutes, Technical Universities, heat pump manufacturers, national and European industrial associations, energy consultants, works contractors and an information centre. January 2009-2014. (Coordinator Luis Coelho).
website: www.groundmed.eu
GROUND-MED had a duration of 5 years and a budget of 7,25 million euros, comprising 25% research, 60% demonstration and monitoring, 10% dissemination and 5% project management activities. The GROUND-MED consortium consisted of 24 European organizations including a wide diversity of GSHP actors, such as research institutes, Technical Universities, heat pump manufacturers, national and European industrial associations, energy consultants, works contractors and an information centre. January 2009-2014. (Coordinator Luis Coelho).
website: www.groundmed.eu
The Promotion 3e project was a European project, co-financed by the Intelligent Energy in Europe Program, which involved twelve entities from eight European Union countries. Starting in October 2008, and lasting 36 months.
The main objective was to promote the purchase and use of energy-efficient household appliances in Europe to reduce the energy consumption of this type of equipment and greenhouse gas emissions. In the scope of the project, household appliances of the ranges subject to energy classification were considered, namely washing machines; drying machines; dishwashers; refrigerators; electric ovens; air conditioners and lamps. (Coordinator João Francisco).
website: coming soon
The main objective was to promote the purchase and use of energy-efficient household appliances in Europe to reduce the energy consumption of this type of equipment and greenhouse gas emissions. In the scope of the project, household appliances of the ranges subject to energy classification were considered, namely washing machines; drying machines; dishwashers; refrigerators; electric ovens; air conditioners and lamps. (Coordinator João Francisco).
website: coming soon
National projects
Expertise in solar energy R&D and numerical computational fluid mechanical simulation, namely obtained and applied in national projects SOL3 and SelfWater (QREN programme), as well as in the European project TESSe2b (H2020 programme) allowed to apply their knowledge in the development of a prototype of a horticultural dehydrator.
This prototype was a result of the research work entitle “Horticultural Dehydrator” for the enterprise Synege. Provisional national patent registration “Desidratador para hortofrutícolas e método de funcionamento”. Patente Nacional nº110318, 29th September 2017. Owners Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal and Synforege Lda. The prototype was designated DryEcoMate. It is an energy-efficient, low-cost, modular, and portable dehydrator that works exclusively with renewable energy, namely solar thermal and photovoltaic and can operate independently of the instant weather conditions. April 2016-November 2017 (Coordinator Prof. João Garcia).
This prototype was a result of the research work entitle “Horticultural Dehydrator” for the enterprise Synege. Provisional national patent registration “Desidratador para hortofrutícolas e método de funcionamento”. Patente Nacional nº110318, 29th September 2017. Owners Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal and Synforege Lda. The prototype was designated DryEcoMate. It is an energy-efficient, low-cost, modular, and portable dehydrator that works exclusively with renewable energy, namely solar thermal and photovoltaic and can operate independently of the instant weather conditions. April 2016-November 2017 (Coordinator Prof. João Garcia).
The work developed by IPS in previous European projects in the geothermal area, namely GROUNDMED "Advanced ground source heat pump systems for heating and cooling in Mediterranean climate" (FP7 program) and GROUNDHIT “Ground Coupled Heat Pumps of High Technology” (FP6 program) and their dissemination activities in Portugal allowed IPS to be contacted by some national companies in order to help them acquire knowledge and skills in order to extend their area of ??activity to shallow geothermal energy using geothermal heat pumps. One such company was Synege, a company in the field of geotechnical engineering. The company intending to extend its geothermal activity was faced with a problem that was the lack in Portugal of equipment necessary for the execution of the geothermal projects, mainly of medium and large size that is the equipment of Thermal Response Tests (TRT) of the geothermal boreholes. One of the activities of the IPS in GROUNDMED was to evaluate the use of these equipment in the demonstration sites of the project.
Based on this knowledge, the IPS established with Synege a protocol for the development of the TRT prototype. Synege contracts a former IPS student to assist in this development. Thus, one TRT was developed. The basis of a TRT is to inject into the ground, through the geothermal borehole, a known amount of constant energy for a sufficiently long time. The equipment heats a circulating medium (water with or without antifreeze) flowing through the borehole heat exchanger. The temperature response of the circulating fluid is measured during this time and is used to infer the thermal characteristics of the soil. The obtained data are analyzed through the approach to line source theory.
The accuracy of the theory approach depends on the existence of a long test and a sufficient stable energy rate. The equipment is managed through a software that receives the data by GSM. With this application, it is possible to follow all the tests through remote connection. The equipment was built according to the reference standards: CEN / TC 341; ISO / DIS 17628: 2013 (DRAFT); VDI 4640 (Parts 1 to 3). The TRT it was validated in the geothermal installation of the IPS developed under the project GROUNDHIT. At the moment Synege is running a large geothermal project, Quinta da Umbria in Loulé, Algarve. It is a golf course, club house, hotel and villas, with 144 hectares of area, 13,975 m2 of air-conditioned area and with 244 boreholes between 110 and 150 m depth, being the largest surface geothermal installation in Portugal, where it has been used the TRT. IPS has continued to support Synege in the development of this project. July 2014-July 2017. (Coordinator Prof Luís Coelho).
Based on this knowledge, the IPS established with Synege a protocol for the development of the TRT prototype. Synege contracts a former IPS student to assist in this development. Thus, one TRT was developed. The basis of a TRT is to inject into the ground, through the geothermal borehole, a known amount of constant energy for a sufficiently long time. The equipment heats a circulating medium (water with or without antifreeze) flowing through the borehole heat exchanger. The temperature response of the circulating fluid is measured during this time and is used to infer the thermal characteristics of the soil. The obtained data are analyzed through the approach to line source theory.
The accuracy of the theory approach depends on the existence of a long test and a sufficient stable energy rate. The equipment is managed through a software that receives the data by GSM. With this application, it is possible to follow all the tests through remote connection. The equipment was built according to the reference standards: CEN / TC 341; ISO / DIS 17628: 2013 (DRAFT); VDI 4640 (Parts 1 to 3). The TRT it was validated in the geothermal installation of the IPS developed under the project GROUNDHIT. At the moment Synege is running a large geothermal project, Quinta da Umbria in Loulé, Algarve. It is a golf course, club house, hotel and villas, with 144 hectares of area, 13,975 m2 of air-conditioned area and with 244 boreholes between 110 and 150 m depth, being the largest surface geothermal installation in Portugal, where it has been used the TRT. IPS has continued to support Synege in the development of this project. July 2014-July 2017. (Coordinator Prof Luís Coelho).
This was an integrated project of knowledge, information and tools relevant to the management of the Tagus Estuary, which pretends: (i) to remodel the monitoring system of the Tagus Estuary and adjacent water lines; (ii) to develop tools for appreciation existing information, (iii) to develop tools to support the risk management and minimization, and (iv) the development of tools to support environmental education and interaction with the public. The project outcomes were based on products held by partners to invest in the missing elements and updating existing products.
The project ENVITEJO was a project co-financed by POR Lisboa, QREN with n.º LISBOA-02-0731-FEDER-000241, in partnership with Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (ex-ARH Tejo), SIMARSUL, S.A. e a SIMTEJO, S.A, 2011-2014 (Delegate of SIMARSUL in the project, Lisete Epifâneo).
website: www.apambiente.pt
The project ENVITEJO was a project co-financed by POR Lisboa, QREN with n.º LISBOA-02-0731-FEDER-000241, in partnership with Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (ex-ARH Tejo), SIMARSUL, S.A. e a SIMTEJO, S.A, 2011-2014 (Delegate of SIMARSUL in the project, Lisete Epifâneo).
website: www.apambiente.pt
The aim of this project was to develop a prototype for monitoring the degradation of xenobiotic compounds in a biological reactor (SBR). Xenobiotic compounds are difficult to biologically degrade and can cause toxicity to the living organisms when discharged in the environment. It was studied the biodegradability of selected compounds combined with the photodegradation by UV radiation, whose information was particularly relevant for companies that manage wastewater treatment and it was possible to develop a prototype to use in this lab-scale studies.
Financial support: Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Setúbal, 21.384,00€; Partners: ESTS/IPS, LAQV-REQUIMTE (FCT/UNL), SIMARSUL, ISEL/IPL, 3-CP-IPS-07-2009, 2009-2012 (Coordinator: Ricardo Salgado).
Financial support: Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Setúbal, 21.384,00€; Partners: ESTS/IPS, LAQV-REQUIMTE (FCT/UNL), SIMARSUL, ISEL/IPL, 3-CP-IPS-07-2009, 2009-2012 (Coordinator: Ricardo Salgado).
The aim of this project was to contribute to sustainable development of oil waste that currently has costs associated elimination, and by applying it as new raw material in the production of fuel alternative, such as Biodiesel. The waste to be recovered comes from the waste oil and grease separators, catering units, hotels and hypermarkets from wastewater separators. In the first phase, a technique of pre-treatment of the residue was developed, consisting of a fat extraction process, followed by characterization chemistry of the extracts obtained and a comparison with the current raw material (waste of cooking oil). In a second phase, it was studied the production of Biodiesel with this new raw material. In a final phase, the biodiesel was tested to evaluate the performance of this new Biodiesel in vehicles with the new source.
Financial support: Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Setúbal, 4.739,00€; Partners: ESTS/IPS, LAQV-REQUIMTE (FCT/UNL), SIMARSUL, 3-CP-IPS-13-2009, 2009-2012 (Coordinator: Ricardo Salgado).
Financial support: Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Setúbal, 4.739,00€; Partners: ESTS/IPS, LAQV-REQUIMTE (FCT/UNL), SIMARSUL, 3-CP-IPS-13-2009, 2009-2012 (Coordinator: Ricardo Salgado).
