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A Ukrainian company offers technology and equipment for storing excess electrical energy in ice tubes and rods produced in freezers

Summary

Profile Type
  • Technology offer
POD Reference
TOUA20250411014
Term of Validity
11 April 2025 - 11 April 2026
Company's Country
  • Ukraine
Type of partnership
  • Investment agreement
  • Research and development cooperation agreement
Targeted Countries
  • All countries
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General information

Short Summary
The Ukrainian company offers a technology for storing excess electrical energy based on new types of water crystallizers with ice storage in batteries for use in cooling and air conditioning systems with the possibility of transporting ice. They are looking for specialized partners to implement the proposed technical solutions, including under grant programs.
Full Description
The cost of electricity varies throughout the day. This change depends on the availability of energy sources, legislative decisions, and climatic conditions. The amount of energy produced by the main renewable sources (sun, wind) reaches half of the total production in some countries. There are situations when the cost of electricity on the market approaches zero (400-600 hours per year). Currently, electric batteries are mainly used for energy storage, which are very expensive, have a limited service life of a certain number of charge- discharge cycles, are difficult to dispose of (after use), and are harmful to the environment. They are also characterized by increased fire hazard. Energy storage in electric batteries has a high initial cost. The cost of energy storage in electric batteries is in the range of $100-300/kWh during the period of operation. Their advantages include the possibility of use in any devices, the duration of electricity storage, and high storage density (130 Wh per kg of its weight), and in an ice accumulator, this value is 90 Wh of cold per kg of ice. Note that when a freezer is operating, 1 kWh of electricity can produce 2-3 k Wh of cold.
A lot of energy in the world is spent on cooling processes. In most cases, a temperature of +3 10 degrees Celsius is sufficient for this, which can be provided by melting ice.
Ukrainian innovative company, which has more than 20 years of experience in developing devices and automation systems and participating in various projects on energy efficiency and the use of solar and environmentally friendly clean energy, offers a technology for storing excess electrical energy, based on the production of ice (during the period of cheap energy on the market) in freezers, using developed and proven crystallizers. They allow to get ice that is easy to accumulate and transport to consumers. The storage duration of small volumes of accumulated ice is lower than the duration of electricity storage, so ice can be recommended mainly for weekly or daily accumulation.
Tests were conducted on several types of crystallizers (TRL5) for producing icicles, ice tubes, and rods. In the production of the mentioned forms of ice, it is possible to desalinate water and purify solutions by freezing.
The conducted studies concerned the use of the heat of crystallization of water (334 kJ/kg) for preheating atmospheric air, for example, from minus 30 to minus 5 degrees Celsius in frosty regions. The heated air is supplied to air heaters of ventilation systems, while traditional energy is saved by 1.5-2 times, or to heating systems using heat pumps, while their COP (coefficient of performance) increases by 30%. In the process of heating the frosty air, ice was formed, which was proposed to be stored until summer with subsequent use in refrigeration systems.
They are looking for specialized partners to implement the proposed technical solutions, including through grant programs.
Advantages and Innovations
- Lower cost of storing electrical energy compared to electric batteries
- Crystallizers for producing ice from water are adapted for use in well-known freezers
- The equipment is made of affordable and cheap materials, and its service life is several times longer than that of electric batteries
- Easy to dispose of after the end of its service life and does not harm the environment
- The cost of storing 1 kWh of electricity during the production and accumulation of ice during the period of operation is $0.15-0.20/kWh, excluding the costs of control and energy management systems, which are individual in each case depending on the conditions of cold consumers.
Stage of Development
  • Lab tested
Sustainable Development Goals
  • Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
IPR status
  • IPR granted
IPR notes
Patent of Ukraine

Partner Sought

Expected Role of a Partner
Тhe company is looking for partners interested in using cooling systems and storing excess electricity to help implement technical solutions, including through grant programs. Preferred forms of cooperation - a research and development cooperation agreement or an investment agreement
Type and Size of Partner
  • SME 11-49
  • University
  • Big company
  • R&D Institution
  • SME <=10
  • SME 50 - 249
Type of partnership
  • Investment agreement
  • Research and development cooperation agreement

Dissemination

Technology keywords
  • 04002008 - Cooling technologies
  • 04001003 - Storage of electricity, batteries
Market keywords
  • 06008 - Energy Storage
  • 06011 - Energy for Transport
Targeted countries
  • All countries