Australia cools down with graphene paint

Beginning to see some of the innovative ways that graphene can be used in everyday consumer technologies, Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd. has brought its specially reduced-methane graphene to supplement something that has become so universal to living – temperature control.

Based out of Richlands, Australia, GMG is a clean-tech company that, instead of mining or sourcing graphite to then go through the painstaking process of refining into graphene, makes the wonder material by decomposing natural gas or methane.

Using its proprietary process, GMG has devised a method to produce high-quality, low-cost, scalable, tunable, and no or low-contaminant graphene by reducing methane into its constituent elements – hydrogen, some residual hydrocarbon gases, and carbon.

With a system to develop green graphene, GMG has first targeted the energy savings segment by focusing on graphene-augmented heating, ventilation, and air conditioning or HVAC coatings, lubricants, and fluids.

Called THERMAL-XR RESTORE, this HVAC coating system is a unique method of improving the conductivity of corroded heat exchange surfaces and maintaining the performance of new units at peak levels. Powered by GMG Graphene, THERMAL-XR RESTORE is a direct-to-metal, water-based acrylic paint specifically designed to adhere to HVAC and refrigeration coils.

According to GMG, the process coats and protects the heat exchange surfaces while improving and rebuilding the lost corroded thermal conductivity and increasing the heat transfer rate by leveraging the physics of graphene, which results in overall improvement through efficiency and energy reduction.

With a patent pending on this paint, GMG has announced the commissioning of its graphene-enhanced coating blending plant and that it is now operational after its first 1,000-liter (264 gallons) blend.

"We are very excited to commission our own blend plant and to have manufactured 1,000 litres of THERMAL-XR RESTORE as part of our distributor's initial orders, which are subject to in-country regulatory approvals," said Graphene Manufacturing Group CEO Craig Nicol. "This is an important step to becoming a globally recognised manufacturer and marketer of energy-saving products."

In addition to the commissioning of its plant, GMG has also installed laboratory facilities for quality and control requirements and for further research and development to extend and enhance the THERMAL-XR portfolio into additional industries and applications.

Since receiving approval from the Australian government in February for GMG to produce and sell TXR at scale, the company has intensified sales activities that have resulted in numerous distribution agreements all throughout the world.

These include North America, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea for the HVAC market.

As part of spreading its market reach, important initial and forward sales orders have been received from HVAC-R distributors, which are currently being reviewed against their market introduction timelines and local country approvals.

The application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval of THERMAL-XR with all the supporting scientific testing is to be submitted shortly with a statutory 30-day review period. Given the number of approved graphene material products, GMG is confident of its approval.

The company is also assessing the use of this product for other industrial applications such as energy savings for data centers and energy producers like liquified natural gas plants, where TXR has the potential to increase production capacity and energy efficiency, as well as its possibilities in vehicle radiators, solar cells, and other industrial applications.

For now, the company believes the LNG industry remains a highly attractive opportunity for the use of its TXR paint, given the large potential economic and environmental benefit it could provide.

Currently, a testing program with LNG producers is in the process of being developed and implemented.