SmartPump.ai - Next Generation Air Source Heat Pumps Enabled by Novel Manufacturing

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**Vision**SmartPump.ai is a start-up with the mission to bring emerging technologies to public infrastructure to help authorities reach their Net Zero goals.SmartPump.ai's first product will utilise its aerospace-inspired 3D-printed axial-flow heat exchanger technology to increase the efficiency and decrease the form factor of domestic air source heat pumps (ASHPs) by 80%. This will enable ASHPs to be more feasibly and viably installed into existing housing stock and help the UK government reach its goal of 600,000 installations per year by 2028\.ASHP technology has existed for decades as a decarbonised heating solution. ASHPs are typically 3x more energy efficient than gas boilers, depending on the installation, and have lesser maintenance requirements, but due to numerous factors have failed to gain traction in the UK.Numerous converging factors indicate that the SmartPump.ai solution is the answer to this challenge going forward:1. Government drive to decarbonise2. Macroeconomics shifting energy cost equation for homeowners3. Recent findings that blending green hydrogen into gas pipelines will not work4. Decreasing cost of industrial 3D-printing**Innovation**This solution uses three emerging technologies, creating a revolutionarily small, light, efficient, easy-to-install and aesthetically-pleasing Outdoor Unit, enabling widespread adoption:1. 3D-Printed Heat Exchangers create complex microchannels, maximising flow/turbulence, and creating large surface areas in very small volumes. Existing systems use traditional metallic/plastic tubing, which cannot create these geometries.2. Aerospace (Axial Flow) Heat Exchangers maximise air flow over the exchanger. Existing systems use less effective fan-blown fin-and-tube systems.3. TinyML Control Systems maximise efficiency and reduce noise based on sensor inputs. Existing systems use binary on-off switching.**Key Objectives & Focus Areas**The key objective of this Fast Start project will be to create real-world, full-scale demonstrations of the technology for the first time.The technical focus will be to design, build, and demonstrate multiple iterations of the 3D-Printed Axial Flow Heat Exchanger in a range of materials. Demonstration will be by comparative tests. The TinyML Control System will be developed and proven at a later stage.These tests will substitute a SmartPump.ai 3D-printed axial-flow heat exchanger into a Samsung AE090RXEDEG Outdoor Unit and measure the exchangers performance relative to the baseline component. The aim will be to demonstrate similar heat exchange performance at 80% reduced form factor.The commercial focus will be to demonstrate the feasibility and viability of the concept to Samsung UK.