Entent

Que problema foi resolvido?

Typically, electricity is generated by first producing heat. At ENTENT, we challenge that idea. For us, sustainable energy is already within reach. Instead of burning resources to make electricity, we capture waste heat — the unused thermal energy released by human activity — and convert it into clean power as part of a circular economy approach. Today, only 30% of the heat generated by humans is actually used. The remaining 70% is wasted and released into the environment. This lost heat comes from industrial processes, power generation plants, data centers, and waste incinerators. Following the Paris Agreement, many countries have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. To put it simply, if all this waste heat around the world were recovered, it could power the entire European Union — without consuming a single additional raw material or emitting more CO₂. The problem? Current technologies that convert heat into electricity only work efficiently at high temperatures (between 150°C and 350°C). Yet in industry, 60% of waste heat is released below 150°C, and in power generation, 90% of that heat is below this threshold. This low-temperature segment represents a massive untapped potential — a €70 billion market. Industries are looking for solutions, and regulations will soon make them mandatory. But existing systems weren’t designed for efficiency — they were designed for power, and that’s the issue.

Como é que isso é resolvido?

To tackle this challenge, ENTENT took the problem from the opposite direction. Mathias Fonlupt, the company’s founder and president, started from scratch to design a technology not optimized for power output, but for efficiency. The result is a breakthrough innovation, fully patented: PULSE. PULSE introduces a new thermodynamic cycle based on pulsed flows of an organic fluid. This innovation boosts the efficiency of low-temperature systems by up to 60% compared to existing solutions, making it possible to recover and convert heat sources between 60°C and 150°C into electricity.

Quem são os potenciais clientes?

ENTENT targets industrial players and existing energy producers (both heat and power) who generate large amounts of waste heat. These aren’t necessarily petrochemical or nuclear giants. In France, 80% of industrial activity comes from the food industry — from milk pasteurization to pizza baking — all processes that release low-temperature heat. In the energy sector, PULSE is also relevant for biomass, biogas, and geothermal plants, and can even be applied to solar thermal systems.

Em que é que esta solução é diferente?

The ability to operate efficiently at low temperatures is what makes the PULSE technology unique. Its use of pulsed organic fluid flow is unlike anything else on the market. To achieve this, the entire system architecture was redesigned — setting it apart from conventional Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technologies: Control valves added to regulate system operation Flash evaporation process Piston-based expander replacing turbines, offering higher performance in pulsed operation Optimized condenser to handle pulsed flow Elimination of the mechanical pressurization pump, replaced by a thermo-gravitational system The full machine architecture was patented in 2018 and is intended to be released under an open-source license. ENTENT also holds numerous internal improvements that could feed future open-source patents, expanding the potential of the technology even further.