Grantee Research Project Results
Advanced Electrochemical Inerting System For Food Preservation
EPA Contract Number: 68HERC20C0038Title: Advanced Electrochemical Inerting System For Food Preservation
Investigators: Zerby, Jacob
Small Business: Xergy Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: I
Project Period: March 1, 2020 through August 31, 2020
Project Amount: $100,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (2020) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , SBIR – Sustainable Materials Management
Description:
lnerting, the process of suppressing oxidation ensures the freshness of food while retaining its nutrients and taste, extends the shelf-life of foods by up to eight times longer than other refrigerators. Xergy is proposing a low-cost, compact, simple to integrate and novel solid-state method of oxygen control based on an alkaline exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis cell, a derivative technology from fuel cells development funded these past 20 years. This technology requires no maintenance, is quiet, and takes up very little space in a refrigerator, making it superior to other higher cost, high noise and vibration, and large footprint systems employing compressors; and therefore, usable widely by the appliance industry for food preservation. When employing AEMs for inerting, water and oxygen react at the cathode to form hydroxyl ions. The hydroxyl ions transport across the membrane and reform oxygen and water at the anode of the cell. The system proposed is low cost and easy to integration, and functions by reducing both water and oxygen in the space being inerted, providing a dry nitrogen environment for superior food preservation compared to other technologies.
Progress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.