Haydale has announced it will be collaborating with Cadent Gas and the Energy Innovation Centre to develop graphene ink-based heaters for low-power hot water. The £135,000 three-stage project will run for an initial 15 months.
The graphene solution has the potential to offer a low-power way to heat water when there is an interruption to the gas supply. Currently, the provision of fan heaters and hot plates to vulnerable customers without a gas supply can be expensive and challenging, particularly for elderly or disabled customers.
Stage one of the project will see Haydale working directly with Cadent to identify up to four specific and detailed use case scenarios where the graphene ink-based heaters could be used across Cadent’s network. The aim of the 15-month project is to develop an operational pre-product prototype.
Development of graphene-based, high conductivity inks and coatings that can be applied to surfaces have the potential to provide even heating across large areas with a very thin profile. This technology is made possible by Haydale’s patented HDPlas process, which promotes efficient dispersion of nanomaterials and allows the surface chemistry to be altered to improve the physical and electrical properties.
Graphene ink-based heaters offer a low-power solution requiring only a 24V direct power supply via a static or portable battery pack. It is easy to adapt and flexible enough to be printed onto multiple substrates such as metals, plastics, fabrics, and glass.
Keith Broadbent, Haydale's CEO, said: We look forward to working with Cadent and the Energy Innovation Centre on the use of functional graphene inks in the energy supply market. Our graphene-based heater technology offers the potential of a low-power solution for use in people’s homes to keep them safe and warm when there is an interruption to supply.
Mark Pritchard, Cadent's Innovation Specialist, said: We are looking forward to working alongside Haydale on this innovative project, whereby we aim to find a low-power solution to enable many customers in vulnerable situations to be able to heat water to an optimum temperature, to allow them to stay warm, wash, clean and live independently.
Claudia Sequeira, Head of Development & Deployment for the EIC, said: The EIC Partnership has explored the use of graphene in the energy sector in past projects and it is very exciting to collaborate with Cadent and Haydale in the development of this next step. The project will provide tangible learning applied to specific use cases where we can assess the impact of the technology in keeping customers in vulnerable situations safe and warm during an interruption to the gas supply