It began with collaboration between an entrepreneur and researchers at Aarhus University – and ended with a company in growth that attracts investments worth millions and creates jobs. TEGnology is an East Jutland company that has commercialised the discovery by Aarhus University researchers of a special material that can convert waste heat to electrical energy in items such as cars.

2014.01.14 | Ida Hammerich Nielson

Trucks have large engines with a considerable amount of waste heat. In collaboration with Aarhus University researchers, an East Jutland company has developed a unique energy material that can convert waste heat to electrical energy.

Shown here is the unique energy material developed by TEGnology in collaboration with Aarhus University researchers. The material is based on zinc antimonide and magnesium silicide.

In 2009, entrepreneur Flemming Bjørn Hansen contacted Aarhus University. He had a good idea, but he needed researchers to turn it into reality. And today the idea is a reality! Aarhus University researchers spearheaded by Professor of Chemistry Bo Brummerstedt have discovered a unique energy material that can convert waste heat to electrical energy in items such as cars. And Flemming Bjørn Hansen’s company – TEGnology – has further developed and commercialised the discovery. The company’s second prototype and test results now show that the technology works – and is unique on the market.

“The technology has proved itself. It’s more stable and more efficient than existing thermoelectric technologies. It’s cheaper and more environmentally responsible, and it can work at very high temperatures – the only one on the market to do so. It’s really ground-breaking,” says Paul Egginton, the new director at TEGnology.

Because the technology works so efficiently at high temperatures, it makes items with large engines particularly interesting for the company. These include machines, vehicles, cargo vessels and power plants. The larger an engine, the more waste heat is produced.

Product ready by summer
The potential to reduce waste heat in the heavy transport sector will now be further investigated in a development project financed by the Danish Energy Agency. The grant will be used to develop a thermoelectric generator for Volvo trucks.

“I expect that TEGnology has an opportunity to produce a module that can be used in trucks. They have large engines with a considerable amount of waste heat, and that means an enormous potential for us. The branch has been restricted up to now because there were no materials that worked at high temperatures – and we can now do that,” explains Paul Egginton.

TEGnology plans to launch the product in the USA this summer, and it will have test modules for sale.

At Aarhus University, Professor Brummerstedt is pleased with TEGnology’s success.

“All this started fifteen years ago with pure basic research. It’s extremely satisfying to see that the discovery has now been commercialised. It’s only happened because Flemming Bjørn Hansen and I ran into each other at exactly the right moment,” he says.

Read more about TEGnology here.

See a video about how the project began (in Danish only) here.

Waste heat converted to electrical energy
Waste heat is currently one of the most unexploited energy resources in the world. TEGnology has therefore spent a number of years working on the development of new materials and technologies to contribute to solving this challenge. In collaboration with researchers at Aarhus University, TEGnology has developed two ground-breaking and more efficient energy materials that are based on zinc antimonide and magnesium silicide. They have the capacity to transform a temperature difference into electricity, and they can also work at extremely high temperatures of up to 400°C. The materials have been patented, and calculations and tests show that – when they are used in a thermoelectric generator (TEG) – they can get a car to go more than 10% further per litre.

Aarhus University Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (AU CEI)
Contact between TEGnology and the Aarhus University researchers was arranged by the university’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The same opportunity exists for your company. If you would like to find out more about how to get in touch with the right researchers for your innovation project, please contact Kia Throen at the AU Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation on +45 6020 2662 or read more here.

Aarhus University Technology Transfer Office (AU TTO)
AU TTO acts as a mediator to provide commercial and societal utilisation of new technologies from the university. Since TEGnology was founded, AU TTO has been represented on the company’s board.

“It’s fantastic to experience that many years of efforts from the many necessary business partners have finally paid off and enabled a start-up company to use a technology for industrial purposes. I’d particularly like to mention the researchers at Aarhus University, Insero (capital investor), AU CEI and Business Developer Thomas Schmidt, University of Southern Denmark. In the long run, this will create jobs in Denmark,” says Business Developer Søren Bødker, AU TTO.