Summary:
The UK company has developed a method of zero-carbon hydrogen production called Resonant Control Electrolysis (RCE). This method is many times cheaper than existing alkaline or PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) electrolysis and cheaper than hydrogen made from steam methane reformation. The UK company is seeking a joint venture and/or long term manufacturing agreement with manufacturing partners to set up the factories that will produce and exploit the RCE technology.
Description:
Hydrogen (H2) is a key strategy for zero-carbon industrial applications. It is at the core of the EU Green Deal strategy because it can be used to produce energy for many industrial applications without CO2 emissions and the only emissions are water. However the existing methods of production and storage of H2 are beset with high costs and difficulties in implementation.
The UK company has developed a new method of zero-carbon hydrogen production method called Resonant Control Electrolysis (RCE). It is currently developing the market ready version of the technology with an expected 18-24 months project before large scale production can commence.
As this is a brand new technology, the manufacture at scale will require a significant amount of planning, therefore the UK company wishes to begin the planning of the production with potential manufacturing partners while concurrently developing the market-ready version of the RCE technology.
To achieve this the UK company seeks to set up a joint venture and /or manufacturing partnership with companies that are able to fund and build the RCE factories in order to exploit the technology.
The 'ready for market product' is estimated to take 18-24 months before large scale production can begin, however pre planning for a factory also requires time so the UK company wishes that their factory partners begin production as soon as possible after the RCE production version is completed and tested.
The UK company is seeking a joint venture and/or long term manufacturing agreement.
Type (e.g. company, R&D institution…), field of industry and Role of Partner Sought:
A cooperation as a joint venture or under a manufacturing agreement is sought.
Partners may be existing manufacturers of electrolyser cell stacks who have access to skilled personnel to assemble the various components of the finished RCE products.
Partners will help the UK company with the pre-planning of the factory, including the planning of staff training, expertise crossover, semi automation, and suppliers sourcing.
The manufacture of electrolyser cell stacks uses skilled personnel to assemble the components. Some components such as electronic control units may be sourced from large scale manufacturers due to economies of scale, but the UK company aims to enable as much local production as possible. the partners will be expected to help the UK company build this network of suppliers in their respective region.
Stage of Development:
Under development/lab tested
Comments Regarding Stage of Development:
RCE technology is currently at TRL5, with the next step to being tested on a full scale electrolyser to take it to TRL6.
The steps to take RCE through the product design stage to TRL 9 are mostly going to do with fluid dynamics and electronic circuit design, both of which are well known and established.
Certain design problems have already been anticipated by the UK company and they have devised solutions for these problems.
The UK company needs to do the physical testing and also devise the most effective methods of large scale manufacture.
They have conservatively estimated 18-24 months for the project, but if the design problems are less severe than anticipated, then the whole process could be less than 18 months.
IPR Status:
Secret Know-how
Comments Regarding IPR Status:
The IP protection has not yet been finalized as there are different IP types to be considered because of the many applications associated with this particular technology.
The core of the IP is around hydrogen production. The UK company also holds IP on methods of using their technology into various large and heavy CO2 emitting industries such as steel production and cement production.
External code:
TOUK20210222001
