A brief interview with Didier Ostorero, CEO of Cronus Technology AS
Didier Ostorero, CEO of Cronus Technology AS, has a long association with the aluminium industry. He previously worked with Goodtech Recovery Technology in Oslo as Project Engineer and Chief Technology Officer for about 3 years, for the project 'Heat Recovery from Aluminum Pots Based on Heat Pipe Technology'. Holding a master degree in New & Renewable Energies: Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Fuel cells, and Thermal transfer in buildings, he started his career as an intern and worked on energy efficiency and energy recovery from industrial processes such as primary aluminium production.
So, his rock-solid professional journey from an intern to CEO in the aluminium industry definitely offered the AlCircle team no less than a deep insight into the industry when he gave a brief interview.
He started Cronus Technology in the year 2016 and since then looking after every aspect of the company closely, including marketing and development of technologies. In 2018, the company started the diffusion of the energy recovery technology in India where it received excellent feedback from both customers and leading aluminium players in the country.
To know more about such achievements and developments of Cronus Technology as well as the CEO Didier Ostorero, read on the interview.
You have started the company Cronus Technology AS in January 2016, but before that you worked on the technology that you are offering for many years. So, could you please brief us about your journey from working on the technology to forming company?
Didier Ostorero: We worked on the technology in Goodtech. Goodtech considered heat recovery technology as a non-core business and we overtook the further development in Cronus technology. The idea of recover energy from aluminium cells was born many years ago. All such development need certain ignorance, otherwise you will never start if you know how many and which problems you get. Development is often in cooperation with the final customers. Even the customers do not exactly know what they should require. We started the development by extracting the heat from inside the pot shells. It was possible to extract the thermal energy, although the system was vulnerable to any failure of the devices. It was not possible to exchange the faulty device during the operation.
Taking that into consideration Cronus developed the “Cronus Energy Collector” which is attached to the cell side wall and can be exchanged during the cell operation. Those devices are installed in EGA Dubai, running for 4 years and it was not necessary to replace any device. Simply , because devices did not fail.
Please tell us about the features of Cronus Heat Recovery System and how it stands out from other heat recovery solutions offered by your competitors.
Didier Ostorero: Cronus technology use thermosyphons/heat pipes in order to collect the waste heat. Cronus Technology solution enable the sidewall cooling over a wide range of temperatures (180 to 250 degree centigrade ).
Variation of the oil flow for each individual cell (more flow/less flow) will adjust the energy extraction rate per cell and still maintain the cell in thermal balance. The process flow diagram shows the individual cell energy extraction.
Cronus Technology solution, by use of heat-pipes, has a much higher heat transfer coefficient which will allow a higher range for amperage modulation (on the amperage increase side). This case is physically impossible to achieve by forced air cooling.
As a proof of the higher efficiency of the heat-pipe technology, is the energy extracted (not included end wall) in DUBAL with a constant and stable rate of 120 kW from the pot which is approximately 2kW per panel.
Since you are new in the market, what is your strategy to make your technology commercially available and sell it as a full scale project?
Didier Ostorero: The only strategy is marketing. It is installed pilot plant at EGA in Dubai, working perfectly.
In addition to EGA we are bidding for projects in China (several interests), India. The utilisation of recovered energy is a main issue for all aluminium producers. What shall we do with the thermal energy?
Since the technology was proven, how was the response from industry till now? Which countries are you targeting for expansion?
Didier Ostorero: The aluminium industry is very interested in the product, especially companies from the Middle east, India, and China.
How has Cronus been contributing to the aluminium sector so far?
Didier Ostorero: Cronus employees are involved in solutions for aluminium industry for many years and are recognised as a solution provider.
How do you see the evolution of Energy saving technology in Aluminium Industry? What is your vision for it?
Didier Ostorero: Many aluminium producers are saying that reduction of specific consumption of electricity is only possible by energy recovery. We are in beginning of the process. We see in next 10 years sales for 2 billion USD.
Disclaimer: “The information presented herein is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The views and opinions shared in the interview section of www.alcircle.com are unique to the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of www.alcircle.com."
