HT Materials Science

HT Materials Science (HTMS) is a Dublin-headquartered materials company that develops Maxwell, a heat transfer fluid additive for water-based and water/glycol-based closed-loop heating and cooling systems. Maxwell is an engineered suspension of sub-micron aluminium oxide particles (a nanofluid) that the company says improves heat transfer by up to 15%, lowering electrical energy consumption and associated carbon emissions while increasing system cooling capacity. The additive comprises about 2% of total system fluid volume and, according to the company, can in most cases be installed without system retrofit or shutdown; HTMS provides on-site installation supervision and ongoing system monitoring.

In a chilled water system, Maxwell is described as increasing heat transfer in the chiller evaporation cycle, reducing compressor lift and work, and increasing thermal energy transfer in air handling unit coils, which allows higher chilled water set points and lower fluid and air flow rates through pumps and fans. It can be used in a closed condenser circuit but not with an open cooling tower. The company states the fluid is non-corrosive and non-toxic, has a useful life of 10 or more years, and can be recovered from the system and recycled, with typical installation payback of one to three years depending on HVAC utilisation rates and local electricity or gas costs.

Target applications include chillers, heat pumps and energy recovery units in commercial office buildings, large residential buildings, retail and shopping centres, healthcare complexes, warehousing, data centres and manufacturing facilities. HTMS puts the potential market for the product at €50bn across the US and Europe.

Founding story

The company originated with investors Tom (Thomas) Grizzetti and Ed Coleman, who had made small investments in the energy-efficiency and refrigerants space and became interested in heat transfer fluid additives. Around six years before 2023 they travelled to the University of Salento in Lecce, Italy, to meet Professor Arturo de Risi, Professor of Engineering for Innovation, who held his name on 11 patents in the thermal energy sector, and his materials science team working on such additives. In January 2018 Grizzetti, Coleman and de Risi founded HT Materials Science with bases in Dublin, Lecce and New York, with Grizzetti as CEO, de Risi as CTO and Coleman as CFO. Grizzetti had previously spent 16 years as president of investment firm Gotham Industries and, from 1995 to 2006, was COO and co-founder of International Fund Services (Ireland), which was acquired by State Street Bank in 2002.

Business model

HTMS sells Maxwell as a drop-in additive into new and existing commercial and industrial HVAC systems, positioning the purchase against the customer's energy savings, with a stated payback of one to three years. Alongside the fluid, the company provides on-site supervision of installation and ongoing monitoring of fluid and system values.

Revenue derives from supply of the Maxwell heat transfer fluid additive for closed-loop cooling and heating systems, with associated installation supervision and system monitoring services.

Traction

The company reports deployments of Maxwell at commercial and industrial sites across Asia, Europe and North America during 2020 and 2021, with early customers including Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Swire Pacific and Ericsson; other reporting also lists Saudi Aramco and Amazon among clients. An industrial-scale manufacturing plant in Lecce, Italy is operational, and cumulative funding has been reported at $24.4m across three rounds, with headcount of 25-30.

Latest developments

In March 2023 HTMS announced a $15m Series A round supported by Aramco Ventures, Barclays via its Sustainable Impact Capital portfolio, CDP Venture Capital SGR's Corporate Partners I fund and Progress Tech Transfer, with CEO Thomas Grizzetti stating the proceeds would grow market reach to commercial scale. Development of a second-generation heat transfer fluid continues with AMBER at Trinity College Dublin. The company has also been credited with a 2024 Green Product Award.