LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Solid-state battery technology company Ilika announced the development and trial deployment of wireless sensors powered by its 'Stereax' batteries for monitoring rail infrastructure on Thursday.
The AIM-traded firm said the project consortium consisted of itself, Smart Component Technologies (SCT), and the state-owned infrastructure operator Network Rail.

It said that in the 18-month project, self-powered sensors for monitoring key parameters affecting the performance of the railway infrastructure - including load, temperature and shock - would be developed, deployed, tested and evaluated.

The sensors would combine Ilika's Stereax solid-state battery technology and SCT's ultra-low power sensor platform, and would be wirelessly connected to Network Rail's existing condition monitoring platform.

Ilika said the self-powered sensors would be "maintenance-free", and would generate data 24/7, 365 days per year.

The self-powered sensors would be demonstrated on live Network Rail infrastructure as part of a six-month trial deployment.

Ilika said the project supported Network Rail's rail technical strategy, and directly addressed one of the priority challenges - 'reliable and resilient switches' - which Network Rail had published to detail specific business opportunities for the rail industry.

The solid-state battery powered sensors would be the first of their type developed and tested for the railway industry.

Solid-state batteries offered substantial benefits over the currently used lithium-ion batteries, including low leakage currents, compact design with twice the volumetric energy density of lithium-ion batteries, high power density, and a cycle life of 5,000 cycles - equivalent to a 10-year lifespan.

The project was awarded grant funding by Innovate UK, of which Ilika would receive around £0.115m, with balancing contributions from the project's partners.

"This project is a great example of how Network Rail would like to work with our supply chain to assist in the deployment of technology to that is closely aligned with our priority challenges in order to deliver significant business benefits," said a spokesperson at the government-owned railway infrastructure operator.

Dr Jack Bryan Hughes of Smart Component Technologies said his company was "at the forefront" of condition monitoring of critical industrial assets.

"This deployment is closely aligned with our specialism of providing low cost solutions for predictive maintenance."

Ilika's chief executive officer, Graeme Purdy, said they had a "strong consortium" to deliver the product, with Ilika and SCT working together with Network Rail.

"We are looking forward to the deployment of our Stereax battery into Network Rail's intelligent track monitoring system, and to supporting the transition to its predict and prevent maintenance regime."

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