Low Energy Surface Heating

Betterfrost provides solutions that finely control the penetration depth
of heat  to use the minimal heat necessary for the application.
uses 10-20X less energy
than current methods for defrost
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Current Defrost Problem
Defrost is Energy Intensive:  25% of refrigeration energy is used for defrost.  This represents 4% of total global energy usuage.
 
Defrost is Inefficient: Current methods flood surfaces with heat to melt the entire mass of ice.  These methods were not optimized to use the minimum amount of heat necessary.
Works with any Conductive Surface
Our solution works with any conductive surface such as transparent conductive layers in glass or plastic.

We also clear frost from the metals used in heat exchangers without an auxiliary heater or reverse heat cycle for heat pumps.
We pulse heat so that it only reaches the interfacial layer*, about ~ 0.1mm from the surface.  No wasted heat escapes into the environment.

Technology

Current defrost methods flood surfaces with heat and were never optimized to use only the minimal amount of heat to defrost or defog surfaces.
Developed at the Dartmouth Ice Lab
Our defrost and defog algorithms were developed over decades at the Dartmouth College of Engineering Ice Lab. They researched how ice forms, adheres to surfaces and the most efficient ways to remove ice, which is to only melt the interfacial layer, about 0.1mm to create a thin film of water so that it can be removed easily. Then, you don’t need to melt the entire mass of ice, which requires a lot of energy. The best way to do this is with pulsed power to a conductive material.
Control the Penetration Depth of Heat
Our proprietary algorithms control the penetration depth of heat by pulsing the power to the conductive surface. So we only allow the heat to reach the interfacial layer of ice, about 0.1mm from the heating surface. The heat doesn’t propagate or flood beyond this boundary layer so heat isn’t wasted. So this becomes a minimization problem with many inputs.
Efficient  Surface Heating
Because we finely control how heat propagates from a surface to minimize the heat needed to the application, we use much less heat than other methods that are more continuous sources of heat. For Electric Vehicles, we use 20X less energy than HVACs. In refrigeration, we use 10X less energy for defrosting of the evaporator coil.

Technology

Current defrost methods flood surfaces with heat and were never optimized to use only the minimal amount of heat to defrost or defog surfaces.
Developed at the Dartmouth Ice Lab
Our defrost and defog algorithms were developed over decades at the Dartmouth College of Engineering Ice Lab. They researched how ice forms, adheres to surfaces and the most efficient ways to remove ice, which is to only melt the interfacial layer, about 0.1mm to create a thin film of water so that it can be removed easily. Then, you don’t need to melt the entire mass of ice, which requires a lot of energy. The best way to do this is with pulsed power to a conductive material.
Control the Penetration Depth of Heat
Our proprietary algorithms control the penetration depth of heat by pulsing the power to the conductive surface. So we only allow the heat to reach the interfacial layer of ice, about 0.1mm from the heating surface. The heat doesn’t propagate or flood beyond this boundary layer so heat isn’t wasted. So this becomes a minimization problem with many inputs.
Efficient  Surface Heating
Because we finely control how heat propagates from a surface to minimize the heat needed to the application, we use much less heat than other methods that are more continuous sources of heat. For Electric Vehicles, we use 20X less energy than HVACs. In refrigeration, we use 10X less energy for defrosting of the evaporator coil.

Applications

Electric
Vehicles

Low energy surface heating for the windshield, side glass, or other surfaces... This solution uses 20X less energy than a HVAC system and is 20-40% more efficient than heated glass.

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Cold Storage
& Refrigeration

Low energy defrost uses 10X less energy than current defrost methods by providing pulsed power to the conductive layer of evaporator coil tubes. This method saves 15-20% of total energy.

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Smart
Surfaces

We detect where ice is located and direct heat to that specific location. On airplane wings, our smart surface removes (does not melt) 3 inches of ice at -2F in 2 minutes using only 120 volts.

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Awards

Betterfrost is on a roll... here are some of the awards that we won this year at major technology events.
Founding Story
After completing a Master of Engineering in Material Science at Dartmouth, co-founder Kazi Ahmed joined the Dartmouth Ice Research Lab.  The research addressed a significant problem in deicing – it’s very inefficient and wastes a lot of energy.  At the Ice Lab, they studied in great detail, the way ice forms and bonds to surfaces with electrostatic, hydrogen and Van der Waals interactions.  They developed optimized methods to remove ice by only focusing on breaking these interactions at surface, inside of the interfacial layer of ice.  The most effective method to break these bonds is to pulse power from the material surface.  The pulsing creates heat in a way that finely controls the how far the heat penetrates the ice so that it only reaches the interfacial layer, less than 0.1mm. The environment around the ice doesn't heat up and waste heat.  These methods use10-20X less energy than current methods and are very quick.   
 
At Betterfrost, we utilize these methods to develop the most efficient and quickest methods for defrosting and surface heating.  We know understand what is minimal heat necessary and our algorithms deliver only that amount of heat.  No body does this more efficiently than Betterfrost!

Team

Kazi Ahmed and Dr. Sameh Saad started Betterfrost in 2015 and have been developing application solutions for Electric Vehicles, Cold Storage, Refrigeration, and Aerospace.   They have built a world-class team of engineers with expertise in surface thermodynamics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, material science, and software. 
Contact us if you would like to schedule a demonstration.
Leadership
Derrick Redding
CEO
Sameh Saad, Phd
Co-founder/CTO
Advisors
Kazi Ahmed
Co-founder
Michael Book
Sr.Partner, Automotive
Doug Patton
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Sam Ridesic
Sr. Partner
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Feel free to contact us to discuss how our solutions can meet your needs and propel your business forward.