Dryers account for more than 75 percent of energy use in paper mills. Mesophase is commercializing a low-cost energy and water harvesting device to retrofit dryers in paper mills, aimed at significantly reducing energy waste.
FELLOW
Yajing Zhao
Yajing Zhao is the founder and CEO of Mesophase, which seeks to enhance energy-efficiency via surface innovations. She holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is passionate about clean energy and has spent two years of research in power plant thermo-economic analysis and six years of research in condensation heat transfer. Zhao advocates for women’s empowerment and served as the executive co-chair of the MIT Mechanical Engineering Graduate Association of Women.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
In the United States, thermal power plants currently supply over 75 percent of electricity, mostly through steam cycles. However, these thermal power plants also generate more than a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions and are responsible for more than 40 percent of the country’s freshwater withdrawal. The energy sector needs to improve power plant efficiency to meet energy demands while reducing climate impacts. Thermal power plants rely on condensers to control system-level energy-efficiency. However, there has been little innovation in the power plant condenser space due to limitations associated with lifetime, scalability, and cost.
Technology Vision
Mesophase aims to improve power plant energy-efficiency by surface-engineering condensers. Mesophase’s surface invention has demonstrated record-high heat transfer performance—more than 700 percent heat transfer improvement compared to standard surfaces—with no performance degradation over time. The Mesophase-engineered surface can be built into enhanced condenser tubes, either by retrofitting existing condensers or when manufacturing new ones, to significantly enhance power plant energy-efficiency. The technology can improve power plant output by up to seven percent.
Potential for Impact
To guarantee a smooth and reliable transition to renewable energy—while also meeting global energy demand, expected to grow 50 percent by 2050—thermal power plants will continue dominating energy production. Mesophase’s innovation will boost thermal power-plant efficiency during this critical transition. At scale, it will enable an increased output equivalent to the electricity demand of 1 billion more people—without having to build new power plants. Mesophase enhances the energy-efficiency of both fossil-fuel plants and plants powered by renewables. As such, Mesophase aims to help meet global energy demand while minimizing both the exploitation of resources and climate impacts.