Final documentation for research project "BlueMilk" published

Researchers from the Institute for new Energy Systems (InES) under the leadership of Prof. Holzhammer studied the question of how energy supply and consumption in dairies can be made more efficient and flexible.
Over a period of 4.5 years, BlueMilk, in collaboration with industrial companies, examined areas to increase efficiency and flexibility as well as their interplay – termed system efficiency: cleaning systems, intelligent energy provision through combined heat and power plants (CHP) and Power-to-Heat, and the flexibility of the cold chain.

Cleaning systems particularly highlight efficiency potentials such as preheating of pipelines through waste heat or adding insulation. Whereas, cold storage warehouses, by adjusting the electrical consumption, serve as flexible consumers. When considering cold storage warehouses as part of the cold chain with cooling transport, efficiency potentials also emerge.

Site-specific efficiency potentials of the dairy were identified, heat utilization concepts for potential exploitation were developed, and were incorporated into models for examining flexibility concepts. These models were used to investigate energy provision by CHP.  The recommendation is a concept with a 2 MWel-CHP without an electric boiler and without an absorption refrigeration system. With suitable heat utilization, it represents a good flexibility solution with low investment costs for the location.

Detailed explanations and results as well as further findings of the research project are described in the final documentation. This and other reports can be found here: https://www.thi.de/forschung/institut-fuer-neue-energie-systeme-ines/wissenstransfer/

The project was supported by funds of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) based on a decision of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany via the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) under the innovation support programme.