Carrier invests in solid-state heat pump
6th December 2024
USA/IRELAND: Carrier Ventures, the investment arm of the Carrier Global Corporation, is reported to have invested €15m in a company developing a world-first emission and refrigerant-free heat pump.
The company behind the development – Dublin-based Exergyn – is using solid state shape memory alloy (SMA) technology. SMAs can provide solid-state heating, and cooling without using F-gases. The metals used can be deformed when cold but return to their original shape when heated. The Exergyn system is thought to use a shape-memory alloy called nitinol, which is a blend of nickel and titanium.
According to the Irish website The Currency, the Carrier investment values Exergyn at over €200m. Neither company has commented on the investment.
Exergyn was founded in 2012 and is led by one of the original founders, CEO Kevin O’Toole.
This is not the first time that Carrier has been involved with Exergen. The US manufacturer is believed to have been working with Exergyn on the project for a number of years. In 2021, the company was at loggerheads with its own investors over a possible sale of the company to Carrier. At the time, the shareholders believed the potential deal, the price of which was not disclosed, grossly undervalued the company.
Reports at the time suggested that shareholders were also not happy with an Exergyn prototype being shipped to Carrier’s base in Montluel, France, fearing it might prevent other potential buyers from viewing it.
This deal was never completed and in December 2021, the company raised €30m in a Series A funding. About €10m of this was set aside to buy out any existing shareholder.
Technology
Exergyn’s solid-state core technology is said to be suitable for use in a range of power generation or heat pump cycles. The technology was originally designed for recovery of low-grade heat for the generation of clean, controllable electricity, but the company also identified opportunities for energy storage and for the use of the core in thermal applications such as heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration.
The SMA core is zero GWP, non-toxic, non-flammable, and cost-effective, opening up new possibilities for energy efficiency. Fully sustainable, Exergyn says that these cores can outlast the equipment in which they are used and can be reused.
Each core is made up of multiple identical sub-cores making the technology highly scalable from 10kWe to over 1MWe.
