News Release

NTU and NEA collaborate to develop a waste-to-energy research facility

S$40 million research facility to enable the translation of emerging WTE technologies, from research into demonstration and test-bedding projects

Business Announcement

Nanyang Technological University

Ng Wun Jern Signs Collaboration Agreement with NEA CEO Ronnie Tay

image: (Right) NTU Prof. Ng Wun Jern is signing the collaboration agreement with NEA Ceo Mr. Ronnie Tay (left). The signing was witnessed by NTU Provost Prof. Freddy Boey (rear right) and Mr. Choi Shing Kwok, Permanent Secretary for the Environment and Water Resources (rear left). view more 

Credit: NTU Singapore

The National Environment Agency (NEA) today signed a Collaboration Agreement with the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) to co-fund the development of a S$40 million Waste-To-Energy (WTE) Research Facility.

The facility will be the first of its kind in Singapore and enable the translation of emerging WTE technologies, from research into demonstration and test-bedding projects.

Expected to be commissioned by late 2018, the facility will be an open platform to support research and its translation, as well as manpower training to build technical competencies in WTE domain areas. Possible demonstration and test-bedding projects to be conducted at the facility include turning waste and biomass into synthetic gas (syngas - constitutes mainly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide), cleaning and upgrading syngas to run a gas engine or turbine for higher energy recovery efficiencies, utilisation of slag in engineering applications, novel flue gas treatment module for lower emissions, low-grade heat recovery and using a gas separation membrane to extract oxygen from air.

The collaboration agreement was signed by Mr Ronnie Tay, CEO of NEA, and Professor Ng Wun Jern, Executive Director of NTU's Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI). The signing was witnessed by Mr Choi Shing Kwok, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources and Professor Freddy Boey, Provost of NTU.

Mr Ronnie Tay said, "This collaboration with NTU underscores NEA's commitment towards Singapore's vision of becoming a zero waste nation. We hope that this facility will provide stakeholders such as research institutes, academia and industry with a platform to collaborate in and create more effective and sustainable waste management solutions through research, development, demonstration and test-bedding."

Prof Freddy Boey said, "NTU has an established track record of industry collaboration and for translating research into impactful commercial applications. NTU's research in water covers the whole cycle of water. Through this joint research facility with NEA, we aim to to build a centre of excellence and a hub in waste management research. It will provide local institutions and industries access to the world-class research facilities and expertise at NTU, helping them to innovate and develop clean solutions that are globally competitive. Such innovations will help overcome energy and space constraints faced by Singapore and other urban cities. NTU looks forward to collaborating with the industry in these efforts."

The collaboration was signed at the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore 2016 held from 10-14 July 2016 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands.

###

About Nanyang Technological University

A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the colleges of Engineering, Business, Science, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and its Interdisciplinary Graduate School. It has a new medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, set up jointly with Imperial College London.

NTU is also home to world-class autonomous institutes - the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering - and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N) and the Institute on Asian Consumer Insight (ACI).

Ranked 13th in the world, NTU has also been ranked the world's top young university for the last two years running. The University's main campus has been named one of the Top 15 Most Beautiful in the World. NTU also has a campus in Novena, Singapore's medical district.

For more information, visit http://www.ntu.edu.sg

About the National Environment Agency

Formed on 1 July 2002, the National Environment Agency (NEA) is the leading public organisation responsible for improving and sustaining a clean and green environment in Singapore. The NEA develops and spearheads environmental initiatives and programmes through its partnership with the People, Public and Private sectors. It is committed to motivating every individual to take up environmental ownership and to care for the environment as a way of life.

By protecting Singapore's resources from pollution, maintaining a high level of public health and providing timely meteorological information, the NEA endeavours to ensure sustainable development and a quality living environment for present and future generations.


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.