Inventors: Gayatri Sundar Rajan, HYDECO technology; Ryuichi Ohhata, Apka Shakti software ecosystem; Amedeo Rizzo, business model & go-to-market strategy. University of Oxford & CGE Cultivator
Together, the inventors have expertise in process simulation, which enables them to understand how different systems can be efficiently integrated to produce the desired end result. They are using this expertise to address the goal of providing low carbon cooling and clean water in off-grid settings.
Their system aims to take brackish water and produce drinkable water and cooling, using de-salination methods that will be powered by solar thermal and solar PV together with battery storage. The cooling can be used to cool residential accommodation or industrial premises, or for smaller scale applications such as vaccine cold storage.
The system is being designed using standard components, to ensure that the final product will be low maintenance, and will be able to be supported with locally-sourced spare parts and servicing, as well as being relatively low cost.
The inventors have also built in community feedback from the start of the project, for example participating in a BRAC Hackathon in Bangladesh, to ensure the system is viable for use in low-income countries.
A first prototype which can produce 10 litres of clean water a day has been assembled to demonstrate the concepts behind the technology, and to enable the inventors to improve the design and develop appropriate control and monitoring software.
The challenge for the i-Team is to investigate the use of the system both in low resource settings and in higher-value applications and advise the inventors on their next steps. A key question is whether it would be possible to build a profitable business in some markets (helping to reduce the carbon footprint of activities such as data centres which need sources of cooling and clean water) which could then contribute to international development applications of the technology.