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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DELPHIS (Disrupting ELectrochemical Processes with HIgh-Performance Power Supplies)

Teaser

Summary

Electrochemical [EC] processes play an increasingly key role within great range of industrial applications in many sectors. These applications include sensors, controllers, surface technology, power generation, metal and chemicals electrolytic production, and wastewater treatment, among others. Despite the large number of uses of electrochemistry and its widely known advantages compared with other technologies, unfortunately its wide adoption has been hampered in by its high operative costs, mainly linked to inefficient energy consumption rates, since these processes demand a constant, direct and large supply of power. For instance, only electrolytic processes (e.g. Hall-HÃ©roult process for Aluminum) consume more than 6% of the United States energy! It is urgent to introduce novel solutions into the affected industries to increase the economic profitability for operators, while also decreasing the environmental impact associated with the technology.
Few years ago, our CEO realized that the Lineal Power Supplies (LPS) used nowadays for EC applications have directly inherit the topology and techniques of the 1970â€™s, when efficiency was not crucial, but only operational needs and robustness were valuated. These obsolete topologies use Thyristors (SCRs), which present serious drawbacks and non-competitive operational costs as: i) significant efficiency losses ii) overhead costs associated to 30% reactive power generation (power factor), iii) failure propensity and iv) lack of fine control strategies. Based on these statements, in 2017 the DELPHIS concept born with the aim of replacing the current electronic power systems that can be found in every targeted electrochemical industrial-scale process.
DELPHIS consists of an evolved power AC/DC Solid Stage Transformer that has incorporated the latest cutting-edge technologies to revolutionize the EC sector in terms of OPEX (operational expenses) by replacing the current outdated/ancient power supplies. These include the use of wide band gap (SiC, GaN) semiconductors, combined with planar transformers, leading to an optimized topology, working at high frequencies and currents, with IoT control and monitoring capabilities. DELPHIS competitive advantage includes:
Reduction of 30% of losses Low reactive consumption (High power quality) Reduction of 25-50 % of the weight and volume of the unit Increased System controllability and Process regulation (IoT) Same or lower CAPEX (in comparison to traditional technologies) Energy savings of more than 35%.

Work performed

- Market assessment
- Technical assessment (gantt, roadmap, RRHH, recruitments, risks, budget, prototyping)
- IPR strategy definition and trademark
- Financial Plan
- Business Model Validation (CANVAS) with potential clients
- Pricing strategy defined
- Website and logo definition
- Regulatory assessment.

Final results

We have developed an innovative, high-performance, high-efficient Power Supply that will disrupt electrochemical applications worldwide overcoming the limitations of current electrical power systems by bringing the latest electronics cutting-edge developments to achieve an unprecedented electrical operational performance:
Power InnoTech addresses all the drawbacks limited by current solutions, so is substantially better than alternatives.
According to the results obtained with our MVP, the UNIQUE SELLING POINT OF DELPHIS includes:
Reduction of energy losses in more than 30%.
Reduction of +95% of the reactive consumption. Power quality is second to none: Cos â‰ˆ1, therefore penalties linked to the reactive power will be entirely avoided with Power Factor Corrector (PFC) Controlled Operation.
Lower capital costs: 5% price reduction compared to existing SCR.
Reduction of Weight and Volume of the Power Source: the use of planar transformers allows a high power density that cut-off 75% weight and 50% space required by the installation.
Control & Regulation: the implementation of resonant topologies for the DC/AC conversion allows for feedback regulation and Fault Tolerant capacities that are totally aligned with the IoT & Industry 4.0 revolution.
High-degree of modularisation, as our power devices will be able to smoothly adapt to a wide set of applications offering desired conditions, from 25 to 100kW and from 100kW to 500kW markets.