Generating heat causes around one third of UK greenhouse emissions. The UK 2011 Carbon Plan requires virtually zero-carbon buildings in the UK by 2050. Heat storage is well known to be a key component when generating heat from intermittent renewable sources or to shift heat production to off-peak periods while heat consumption remains on-peak. Today, water-based thermal stores are commmon in the UK, but their large size make them undesirable or impossible to fit in smaller dwellings. Sunamp's heat battery technology uses Phase-Change Materials or Thermochemical Materials to shrink heat storage to one quarter or more the size of equivalent hot water thermal stores. This project allows Sunamp to further increase the energy storage density and power density of heat batteries to increase the potential applications and market for thermal storage, ultimately facilitating the transition to a renewable energy generation scenario.

Sunamp Ltd and Heriot Watt University have decided to collaborate to develop a step-change technology in the solar thermal field: heat storage based on phase change materials. Solar thermal has been undervalued at domestic levels in the last years, but it is strongly believed that the proposition of a compact system based on Sunamp Heat Batteries will boost the adoption of a technology that has the capability to significantly reduce the fuel bills for hot water generation, even in Scotland.

Sunamp pioneered and patented the Heat Store and Processor (HSP) architecture which combines Phase Change Material (PCM) for thermal storage and heat upgrading. In the HESPER project (Heat Store & Processor for Emissions Reduction) developed in the IDP8 framework Sunamp Ltd, Zytek Automotive Ltd and University of Edinburgh intend to demonstrate via tests of HSP at the vehicle sub-system and system levels that: 1.CO2 emission from internal combustion engine (ICE) used in conventional, start/stop, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles can be drastically reduced by thermal pre-conditioning of the cylinder head and catalytic converter; 2. range extension and homogeneity (specifically in variable weather conditions) for electrified vehicles (HEVs, PHEVs, BEVs) can be achieved, avoiding electric battery oversizing; 3. fuel cells startup in cold climate can be facilitated and stresses on electrochemical components reduced; 4. the overall system related to thermal management can be drastically simplified; 5. materials at the core of the technology are safe in automotive environments; 6. the technology can achieve Technology Readiness Level 5 for automotive applications.

Sunamp designs, develops and manufactures phase change material (PCM) based thermal energy storage devices that can store heat and coolth for many days. We call these devices heat batteries. They have been successfully deployed on residential and commercial housing schemes for more than five years and are now being used to address thermal management challenges on vehicles. Battery electric (BEV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV - in electric mode) range is comprised in cold conditions, up to 50% in temperatures down to -30ºC. Typical best in class HEVs (cars and vans) only achieve between 29-35 miles (NEDC), winter will significantly impact that range. This application looks at the challenge of maintaining HEV cabin heating when the engine is off. Doing so will extend range but also reduce emissions in this mode, as the IC engine is off, and the cabin heating is only powered by the HV battery, quickly depleting the limited stored energy. When this happens and the IC engine has cooled off below the stop start threshold, the IC engine restarts, giving an emissions spike as it slowly warms up. The emissions are less the quicker the engine gets back to optimal temperature, and this was proven in two NVN funded projects completed in 2017 and 2019\. Both these projects showed that we could significantly reduce hybrid electric double decker bus cold start emissions (around 50%) and maintain engine temperature and cabin heating throughout the TfL low emission bus test cycle. Waste heat was captured from the engine coolant, in this feasibility study we will investigate the improvement by capturing high grade heat from the engine exhaust gas stream. Sunamp has teamed up with IAV, a leading automotive engineering consultancy, to stabilise the high temperature PCM needed for this application; simulate the impact of adding heat battery sub system into the vehicle cabin heating system; designing a concept that could feature in a future R&D programmes and develop the business model to best maximise the market opportunity.

Sunamp pioneered and patented the Heat Store and Processor (HSP) architecture which combines Heat Pumping and Phase Change Material (PCM) Heat Storage. Originally developed for static applications such as solar thermal, this project investigates the benefits HSP can deliver in two critical automotive applications: 1. Reduction of emissions and enhanced fuel efficiency for Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles 2. Range extension (specifically in variable weather conditions) for Electric Vehicles (EVs) Known HSP characteristics are mapped against these challenges to calculate potential performance. Sunamp is expecting to partner in the automotive space to take the technology to market.