The project developed two ground breaking systems, designed to: maintain easy access to drinks, cope with peak sales by incorporating a new buffer store and give an extremely fast dispensing system (around 15s). Performance testing showed energy savings of >90% vs. open front chillers and 74% vs. a bank of glass door chillers. Demo activities proved that the system is easy to use in a retail space in 3 simple steps:
1. Scan: select an ambient drink & scan.
2. Insert: places into V-Tex Multi.
3. Take: The system transports a pre-chilled drink to the user with minimal wait time. Simultaneously, the system chills the ambient drink using the V-Tex rapid chiller and restocks the iCool store.
The project progressed all objectives:
1. Optimisation of V-Tex – The two proprietary technologies which underpin this ground-breaking approach were refined:
a) V-Tex - Extensive testing & improvement led to an optimsised unit with performance exceeding that set by existing V-Tex products. This is a major achievement and makes the pilot cooling system the fastest known solution.
b) iCool - Integration & testing of the iCool buffer store was carried out to feat. a unique PCM, air flow system and a refrigerant control valve arrangement. The result was a highly efficient store which maintained the beverage temperature using very low energy levels.
3. Fabricate 2 prototypes – two systems were built; a substantial amount of engineering and refinement was undertaken to ensure the system achieved >90% energy reduction.
4. Testing, pilots, demonstration, marketing & dissemination - Rigorous design, subsystem development & optimisation led to the creation of a fully operable demonstrator which underwent performance and energy testing. Private, targeted demos were conducted, initially in controlled environments. Several videos and other marketing materials were produced and finally, a trial took place in a service station. The team generated substantial interest from consumers, retail giants and world renowned beverage producers. Dissemination also took place at events e.g. the PFAN conference Vienna which linked investors & influencers, with “green tech” opportunities. The feedback has been exceptional, resulting in a new JV, connections into investor groups and a potential manufacturing partnership in EU.
5. Productionise design – Most aspects of the system are at a high technology & manufacturing readiness levels, incl all key technologies: V-Tex cooler, iCool system, PCM store, air flow system, all enclosures, and the user interfaces. Consultations were held with manufacturers of professional coolers to implement as many standard solutions as possible. The modular design simplifies scalability and manufacturing. Several improvements were made to improve maintenance and to meet C/E requirements. Further optimisation of the handling system will be carried out during the next phase to improve the system speed. The team have already engaged some 3rd parties with substantial expertise in this field and shall begin by trailing some standard tech solutions.
6. Establish a European supply chain for the V-Tex Multi system - Selection of the correct manufacturing partners will be vital to the success and global supply of V-Tex Multi, as result this received significant focus.
Enviro-Cool have engaged with two manufacturing partners in Europe, both expressed a strong interest in being a lead development and manufacturing partner and is highly capable of developing unique handling solutions.
