THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2023
Photonic science company AssetCool has reportedly received funding to accelerate the rollout of its new photonic coatings, meant to cool down overhead powerlines.
According to the release, the coating can improve the performance of electricity networks while reducing energy losses, costs and emissions.
Additionally, the company says that it has developed techniques to retrofit existing electricity networks, including through the use of aerial coating robots.
The release states that the United Kingdom-based climate technology has raised a £2.25 million ($2,867,073.75) Series A funding round, led by Northern Gritstone and including existing shareholder Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, managed by Mercia Asset Management and Kero Development Partners.
Assetcool's Innovative Coating To Transform Power Networks
— TechNews180 (@Tech_News180) August 16, 2023
AssetCool's Coating Tech Aims to Cut Costs and Emissions
In a groundbreaking stride toward enhancing energy efficiency, UK-based climate tech firm #AssetCool is poised to redefine the way power lines function. With a… pic.twitter.com/2jxmVdTC1G
“As the modern world becomes increasingly reliant on the energy grid to provide electricity for sustainable modes of transport such as electric vehicles, the bottleneck in transmission networks is becoming ever more prevalent. AssetCool’s innovative technology provides a solution to increasing the capacity and efficiency of these networks that has the potential to transform the energy transmission process across the globe," said Duncan Johnson, Northern Gritstone CEO.
“With links in both the Universities of Manchester and Leeds, AssetCool is a living example of the breadth of the technology ecosystem in the North of England."
According to the release, fresh funding will fuel the commercial rollout of AssetCool’s proprietary coating and will aid in further developing techniques for retrofitting power stations.
“We believe that our photonic coating and related in-situ application technology can offer a discontinuous reduction in costs for adding capacity to overhead lines, helping to facilitate electrification around the world," said Dr. Niall Coogan, co-founder and Managing Director of AssetCool. Coogan co-founded the company alongside Barry Johnston.
Other Clean Energy Coatings Research
Last year, an engineer from West Virginia University began research to develop high-entropy coatings to protect gas turbine blades from heat and corrosion from hydrogen combustion. Xingbo Liu, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, hopes that these new coatings can be used in large-scale power generation.
Most of the funding for the project comes from a $2 million Department of Energy grant to decarbonize U.S. power and industrial sectors, advance clean energy manufacturing and improve the country’s economic competitiveness.
Liu is focusing his research on creating coatings for the blades to keep them from corroding, oxidizing or melting when hydrogen fuel is added to natural gas. His study, “High-Entropy Alloy-based Coating to protect Critical Components in Hydrogen Turbine Power System,” looks at coatings that are made from a mix of different elements.
The team hopes to engineer a coating that will successfully protect the wind turbine blades, allowing power plants to be one step closer to running on the mix of hydrogen and natural gas. Overall, this would reduce their carbon emissions and increase demand for natural gas as an energy-producing fuel source.
Editor's Note: This article was updated on Aug. 25 at 10:30 a.m. to correct Coogan's title and include fellow co-founder Barry Johnston.
Tagged categories: Coating Materials; Coating Materials; Coatings; Coatings technology; Coatings Technology; Cool Coatings; Energy efficiency; Environmental Controls; Funding; Green coatings; Green Infrastructure; Power; Program/Project Management
