In 2016, the European Commission has funded the DREAM project, under the SPIRE 2016 calls on the retrofitting of new and existing installations. DREAM stands for Design for Resource and Energy efficiency in cerAMic kilns. The DREAM project aims to design, develop and demonstrate a radically improved architecture for ceramic industrial furnaces, characterised by optimised energy consumption, reduced emissions, and lower operating costs compared to currently available technological solutions. This will be obtained by substantially enhancing specific furnace parts (control system, refractories, emissions abatement system) and by adding new modules and sub-systems (CHP unit, heat pipes) to the current furnace architecture.

DREAM will develop and demonstrate technologies enabling a significant advancement in the sustainability of ceramics processes, implementing 5 synergic lines of research and 3 industrial demonstrators, which will act as technological showcases for market deployment.

The DREAM project is focussed on ceramics, with a number of ceramic companies participating and the equipment supplier SACMI being the project coordinator. Also the German refractory research center (FGF) is a partner in this project.

The DREAM project kick-off meeting took place in the Cerame-Unie offices on 12-13 October.