Electrical adapter to increase the efficiency of various snow making machines

Summary

An Austrian SME has developed a technology to increase the effectiveness of machine-created snow while also saving energy and resources during the snow making process. The aim is to make the snow more resistant to warmer temperatures without compromising the quality of the end product. The technology can also be retrofitted to older systems and offers a short return on investment. Partners are sought for licence agreement and commercial agreement with technical assistance.

Description

The Austrian SME has developed an adaptable system of components, which is the result of years of research in collaboration with science and industry. The technology can be used on all available snow guns and snow lances and increases the effectiveness of machine-created snow while still ensuring a high-quality product. The snow is more resistant to warmer temperatures, while during the production process resources such as power, water and air can be considerably reduced.

In the marginal temperature range, snowmaking is often no longer economical using conventional snow cannons or lances. Meanwhile, international studies indicate that climate change will lead snowfall to retreat to higher mountainous areas affecting both the sport and tourism industries. The technology offered focuses on snow making techniques, which save costs and resources such as water, power and operating hours. Furthermore, snowmaking functions very well at elevations below 1,000m and the process can commence earlier at marginal temperatures of approx. 2° C more compared to standard systems. These factors extend the overall snow window as the season can start on time and good quality snow is guaranteed for the duration of the season.

In snowmaking, the marginal temperature ranges are particularly important and the system functions very well producing inexpensive snow in this critical temperature range. The finer crystalline snow has a higher density, which means that the condition of the prepared slopes can be preserved for longer before turning to slush and the snow is also more resistant to weather variations. Due to the fact that the produced snow has a higher durability, less snow needs to be produced over all and this extends the lifetime of the snow making machinery. The optimisation system offered can be retrofitted to older snow cannons and snow lances improving their snowmaking capacity by approx. one third, which in turn represents a very short amortisation period.

The system is installed in the area of power, water and air supply for snow cannons and snow lances. All components come from one source and are installed by highly trained personnel. The water is powered from a water reservoir through a pumping station and central compressor to the snow lances and cannons. The electric catalytic converter is installed in the electrical supply area thus reaching a higher level of efficiency during nucleation when supplying the snowmaking equipment (homogeneous nucleation). The natural structure of the water, which may have been affected by electromagnetic loads in the pump area, is restored in the water activator. The air activator filters any electromagnetic charge in the air and absorbs this so as not to impact the natural structure of the water. The result is a process of artificial snow production, which combines water and air (nucleation) yielding snow of higher density.
The Austrian SME would like to work together with partners on the basis of a licence agreement or a commercial agreement with technical assistance agreement. Partners can either choose to purchase a licence for the technology or alternatively can acquire the technology via commercial agreement and will receive training from the Austrian company following which they will be in a position to carry out installation, maintenance and test certificates.

Stage of Development

Field tested/evaluated

Requested Partner

Partners are sought who are active in mechatronics engineering and who have established experience in technical sales. Partners can either choose to purchase a licence for the technology or alternatively can acquire the technology on an non-exclusive basis via commercial agreement.
In the case of both licence and commercial agreements, the ideal partner should have access to local markets and the relevant expertise and experience to bring the technology to these new markets. Ideally, the partner should have the technical skills necessary for installation, maintenance and testing. Preferred countries include Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovakia, China, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic, Japan, Korea, Ukraine, Hungary. The Austrian SME will provide relevant training in advance.