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Solution using cooling from the thermal battery charged by a chiller during off peak time to cool beverages at 5°C served from fountains during on peak time.
About
Off grid cooling, this is what Sunamp thermal battery can offer to expand Coca Cola business worldwide. With a small package including a few solar panels, a chiller and a Sunamp thermal battery, iced Coca-Cola beverages will be sold at beaches, country sides, deserts, and remote places with no grid access in a carbon zero way. For places with plenty of energy available, Sunamp offer a low carbon solution that can reduce operational cost running chillers during off-peak time to store energy to be used during on peak time. In both cases, resilience is increased by not fully depending on the grid operation. Sunamp thermal battery differs of the other types of storage by being based on a phase change material. This material stores thermal energy instead of electrical energy, which means that it stores the temperature needed to ice 70 to 300 litters of beverage. The material also come from sustainable supply chain, is non-flammable, recyclable and is designed and tested to operate at least 25 years with a minimum maintenance required. A whole solution that can be on field for a long time. The key innovation of the solution is the Sunamp thermal batteries that use phase change materials (PCM) to store energy for domestic hot water, heating, steam, and cooling applications. Giving more technical information about the technology, melting, and freezing a PCM can stores 3-4 times as much energy in latent heat as the sensible heat of water in a typical thermal storage (i.e., thermal buffering) applications. The generic construction of the battery includes the PCM, and the heat exchanger housed in a sealed enclosure (The Cell). Although the Cell is sealed against ingress of moisture and air, the pressure inside the Cell is around the ambient atmospheric pressure and is fitted with an expansion relief valve. The Cell is insulated using vacuum insulation panels. The outer case and hydraulic connections are designed so that multiple batteries can either be stacked or positioned side by side and then connected either in series or parallel. The polypropylene container containing the heater exchanger is filled with the appropriate phase change material that is prepared in a mixing tank. Sensors and wiring are connected to the controller that sits within the overall casing. Compared with conventional PCM and water based thermal stores, the Sunamp thermal battery technology has the following advantages: a) High flow rates and power ratings (heat exchanger immersed in PCM) b) Additive to PCM and internal design of heat battery eliminates sub-cooling c) PCM Raw materials: Made from by-products of widely deployed industrial processes, non-toxic, and based on inorganic salts, which are non-flammable and with low stable commodity pricing. d) PCM costs < $0.5/kg; complete heat batteries cost under $65/kWh. e) Strong focus on corrosion and permeability (water/ oxygen ingress), resulting in confidence in long lifetime. Over 95% capacity remains after 40,000 accelerated cycles. f) Very low water content, lower water treatment costs, and additional expansion vessels not required. (90 kWh battery has only 70 Liters of water inside). g) Unlike a hot water thermal store, the aspect ratios of Sunamp Heat Battery can be changed without compromising, storage capacity, utilization efficiency and stratification. h) Over 80% of thermal energy is stored in the PCM and the PCM enclosure is at near atmospheric pressure and therefore safety devices associated with pressurized hot water stores will not be required. i) Two independent hydronic circuits, which can be combined where separate and/or simultaneous charging and discharging is not required. Compared with conventional commercial electrical storage, the Sunamp have the following advantages: a) Lifespan tested for over 40.000 cycles (50 years when cycled 2 times/day). b) Sunamp batteries can be charged from multiple thermal sources including boilers, heat pumps, waste heat, electricity (grid or embedded), steam, glycol/water, thermal solar panels and recovered heat. c) At least 2.5 times cheaper than an electric battery. d) Non-flammable substances in the PCM composition. e) Non-toxic substances in the PCM composition. f) Derived from sustainable supply chains
Key Benefits
An Off-Grid solution for beverages allows the company to increase people access to the products in areas when, before the solution application, the access was restricted or inexistent. Better conditions for sales make the whole supply chain change. Accessing new areas demands the creation of new distribution centers and logistic routes, new sales employees are necessary to attend the areas and new markets are developed. Creating the opportunity of Off-Grid sales also creates a necessity of distribution of the Off-grid solution, that can also be applied in On-grid sites, bringing different benefits, and generating a new income stream for the Coca Cola Company. The technology also helps to maximize the usage of renewables and reduce the peak demand on the grid in the on-grid cases. It allows cooling to be produced when conditions are favorable and used on demand to offer iced drinks for the customers at a less energy cost and less carbon emissions. It also allows for small capacity equipment to be operated over longer periods of time, reducing capital costs, and improving efficiency. When the energy usage is decoupled from the generation, more resilience is seen in the commercial side, by guarantying product offer, and in the grid side, by decompressing the grid for community benefit.
Applications
Sunamp thermal battery included in the cooling solution can be applied in different markets. For the Developing markets, the solution brings an off-grid opportunity to achieve more regions that previously were restricted to offer iced drinks. The solution can be applied worldwide, specially where people have limited or no access to energy. A good example of the application are beach stands. To offer a nice experience to their clients, they should be able to provide iced drinks for customers who wants a refreshable drink. Instead of bringing ice bags or keeping fridges running by fossil fuels, Sunamp cooling package offers resilience and low carbon solution adding a compact kit of renewable energy and thermal battery to the beach stand. This solution can be replicable to any other regions in a similar energy restricted situation. In the other hand, for the stablished market, the solution brings different benefits, especially in terms of energy usage and carbon emissions. The solution can maximize the usage of renewables and reduce the peak demand on the grid. Thermal storage allows cooling to pe produced when conditions are favorable (off-peak) and used on demand, reducing carbon emissions and energy bills. It also allows chillers to be operated over longer periods of time increasing efficiency and reducing capital costs of cooling equipment. In conclusion, the same solution can offer benefits either to developing or stablished markets.