ITRI Wins R&D 100 Awards With Technologies Applied in Cement and LED Industries

HSINCHU, TAIWAN--(Marketwired - Nov 10, 2014) - Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan's largest and one of the world's leading high-tech research and development institutions, received two 2014 R&D 100 Awards this year in Las Vegas. ITRI's technologies, which have been licensed to Taiwan Cement Corp. and MPI Corp., were selected as winners for the seventh consecutive year for the most advanced in their respective categories:

• HECLOT (Environmental Technology category), a calcium looping technology developed to reduce carbon emissions from fossil power plants, is the first affordable and energy-efficient solution to achieve a CO₂ capture rate up-to-90 percent.
• ICTA (Imaging category), the world's most powerful, cost efficient and high performance thermal analyzer, reduces LED testing time by more than 90 percent, improving LED devices' production yield, performance, packaging and lifespan.

Tim Studt, the editorial director of R&D Magazine with his 20-year experiences in holding R&D 100 Awards, stated why ITRI can stand out from the competition. "ITRI develops the innovative technology and shows it has advantages, and the fact that they have the industrial partners proves that the technology is marketable and is going to be successful in the marketplace," he said. "This shows to our judges that it is a marketable product and gives more credibility."

Lindsay Hock, the managing editor of R&D Magazine, commented, "HECLOT is definitely an interesting solution for carbon sequestration and carbon capture, which is a huge topic of discussion now. And ICTA is also a very innovative product. The judges and editors rated it very highly." She also praised that ITRI addresses the need of multiple applications and industries. She said, "ITRI does have a diverse portfolio. They have won for everything from mechanical devices, to energy, to environmental technologies and beyond that. That's why ITRI keeps winning."

"ITRI is excited to receive recognition for the seventh consecutive year by R&D Magazine for these breakthrough technologies," said June Lin, general director of ITRI's Office of Marketing and Communications. "They demonstrate our mission to contribute technologies that innovate a better future for society, while creating value and convenience in multiple industries. ITRI's deep capacity in technological research and development creates new possibilities." 

HECLOT is the first affordable and energy-efficient solution to achieve a CO₂ capture rate up-to-90 percent. It reduces energy consumption using a cycling of calcination and carbonation method used to capture CO₂, which ultimately enables coal-fired power generation to become clean electricity. HECLOT plays a significant role in the battle against global warming. It is the most effective and affordable CO₂ capture technology available today with the potential to play a great contribution in the global CCS market and can contribute even more significant capture in the future. It will allow for more rapid adoption of CCS solutions and can expedite the implementation of low carbon policies to help confront the issues surrounding climate change.

ICTA Technology is the most powerful, cost efficient and high performance thermal analyzer when compared to other LED thermal testers available today -- greatly reducing the defect ratio of LED illumination products. While decreasing LED testing time, ICTA improves production yield, performance and lifespan of LED devices such as LED bulbs, mobile phones, TV, laptop display backlight, etc. ICTA offers a measurement speed of 12,000 LEDs per hour, reducing each LED's component thermal resistance testing time to 0.3 seconds. This is 2,000 times faster than the traditional lab method where only six components can be measured per hour. These attributes lead to more reliable LED devices for consumers. In power semiconductor devices, ICTA can be used to solve thermal-induced stress, enabling innovative package design and material property identification or facilitating lifespan estimation.

Commercialization of HECLOT and ICTA is currently underway. In the future, HECLOT will be available for licensing to cement manufacturers and fossil-fuel power plants worldwide. The technologies are available for transfer to companies worldwide.

About ITRI
Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is one of the world's leading technology R&D institutions aiming to innovate a better future for society. Founded in 1973, ITRI has played a vital role in transforming Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive into technology-oriented. Over the years, ITRI has accumulated over 21,000 patents, cultivated more than 140 CEOs, and incubated over 240 innovative companies, including well-known names such as UMC and TSMC.

For more information please visit http://www.itri.org.tw/eng.