neoom group spectacularly wins two awards at Energy Globe Austria

RINKING WATER SHORTAGE: A GLOBAL PROBLEM

Every fourth person in the world does not have regular access to clean water. Although our blue planet is 70% covered by water, only about 0.5% of it is usable for us humans. Theoretically, the available quantity would be sufficient, but water is unevenly distributed over the earth and over the year. The shortage of water is further aggravated by population growth and the constant increase in demand. Thus 1.8 to 2.9 billion people suffer from severe water shortages for 4 to 6 months of the year and about 0.5 billion people all year round. With Phantor we want to counteract this grave injustice.

INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED PRIZE: AN AWARENESS BOOSTER

At the 21st Energy Globe Awards, opened with a greeting by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, a project was honored that addresses precisely this problem and makes an important contribution to solving it: “Phantor” from Imhotep.Industries GmbH, a company of the neoom group. Phantor makes it possible to provide process and drinking water in places where water shortage is a daily challenge – in remote locations, in arid regions or agricultural areas, during peacekeeping operations and disasters, but also in urban development.

Launched in 1999, the Energy Globe is a world-renowned environmental award that honors outstanding sustainable projects each year with a focus on resource conservation, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies. A declared goal of the award is also to help present these innovative and sustainable projects to a broader audience, acting as a multiplier to increase awareness.

PHANTOR SELECTED AS CATEGORY WINNER AND OVERALL VICTOR 

A special feature of the Energy Globe is the multi-stage process. Phantor first won the regional prize in the federal state of Upper Austria and thus qualified for the Austria Award, where it then competed against the other regional winners. At this stage, it not only succeeded in winning the water category, but was also chosen as the public's favorite and overall winner by the more than 60,000 participants in online voting.

The double victory at the Energy Globe was actually the second prestigious award within a short period of time for the water giant from Upper Austria: On October 16, Manfred Ledermüller, Phantor Product Owner, and Walter Kreisel, Founder & Managing Director of the neoom group, had already received the "Iceberg innovation leadership award" for Phantor as a neoom innovation at the Austrian Innovation Forum.

Optimized for mobile use in crisis areas

The name of the mobile water giant is a reference to the grey giants who have adapted to inhospitable conditions; they can smell water over several kilometers and even drill for it.

The innovative design of the system – in a housing and thus easily transportable – as well as the integrated self-optimizing software sets new standards in the field of energy efficiency of atmospheric water generators.

Unlike most conventional AWGs, however, it is designed for both stationary and semi-stationary use and is fully adapted to the conditions in its potential areas of application: Its dimensions allow a relatively easy worldwide transport by ship or train. The installed equipment and materials are designed for minimum maintenance and maximum service life to ensure above-average reliability. In addition, a photovoltaic system on the roof allows Phantor to generate part of the required energy itself.

From problem to innovation

The impetus for the development of Phantor came from a pivotal experience by our company founder Walter Kreisel. During one of his annual visits to a Kenyan orphanage he witnessed the acute lack of water on site. This inspired him to take the initiative and find a solution to the problem himself.

Under the project management of Manfred Ledermüller, Phantor development began immediately after his return home. The team benefited from their many years of experience together in the field of energy systems and renewable energies. The thermodynamic simulation model was developed in close cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. These simulations were then put to the test at the end of 2019 – Phantor left the production facility for the first time and was transported by truck to the accredited testing facility Rail Tec Arsenal near Vienna. There it underwent extensive tests in the climate chamber and was thoroughly convincing. The test results proved Phantor's exceptional performance and confirmed that the actual results agreed with the simulation model. So it won't be long now before our water giant will actively contribute to reducing the global drinking water shortage.