September 21, 2009
Queensland-born technology that could reduce blackouts is one step closer to the marketplace thanks to $50,000 in grants from the state and Commonwealth governments.
The State Government’s Proof of Concept Fund will now enable Slacks Creek company, Kaon Consulting, to enhance its prototype Fuse Saver and create a saleable product.
Queensland Treasurer and Minister for employment and Economic Development, Andrew Fraser, says this is an exciting invention that has the potential to make an impact worldwide, especially among electricity supply firms.
“We can’t let these Eureka moments go by – the leap from workshop to shopfront is a huge one for small firms like Kaon Consulting,” he says.
“With our commercialisation funding program, the Government is supporting firms and researchers with proven concepts – we’re ensuring our ideas remain in Queensland and Queenslanders benefit.”
Kaon Consulting is one of only four Queensland companies to receive the funding.
Director Brett Watson says the Fuse Saver works by detecting electrical faults in overhead powerlines and turning off the electricity before a fuse has time to blow.
“After a few seconds the electricity supply is restored and there is no interruption to electricity supply,” Watson explains.
He says the Fuse Saver offers enormous benefits to consumers, particularly those in regional locations.
“With the fuse protected there is only minimal interruption to supply, consumers aren’t waiting for crews to arrive, faults to be found and then repaired – it’s a win for the electricity providers too who will save money on call outs,” he says.
Watson says the motivation behind the invention of the Fuse Saver is the high number of transient faults in overhead powerlines.
“The majority of faults in overhead powerlines are transient faults, faults caused by short transient events such as lightning strikes, birds hitting wires or high winds. Often these faults rectify themselves after a short interruption to power,” he says.
“Currently the only way to handle these faults is for a fuse to blow – our Fuse Saver interrupts the supply long enough for the fault to clear and quick enough to stop the fuse from blowing.
“If, however, the fault is more serious as soon as the Fuse Saver reconnects supply and detects a fault again it will blow the fuse – so there is no danger a fault won’t be detected and we are talking just a matter of seconds.”
The idea for Fuse Saver was born three years ago when the company’s team of engineers decided to invest in their own ideas, rather than strictly working on client requests.
“We generally carry out electrical design and product development work for other companies but the idea for the Fuse Saver has been kicked around for a while now – the testing we’ve done to date clearly shows it can work,” Watson says.
“The support of the both the Queensland and Commonwealth Government will enable us to ramp up the development of our prototype and we could be ready for market by 2010.”
Kaon Consulting is also one of a number of Australian companies to receive a Commonwealth COMET grant, designed to aid early growth-stage companies in the commercialisation of their innovations.