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A small British engineering company has won government backing to the tune of £250,000 to develop a prototype of its novel compressor technology in a bid to win a slice of the lucrative market for compressed air provision in general industry.
Last year, Midlands firm Lontra licensed its Blade Compressor to global engineering business Sulzer for use in the municipal and regulated wastewater industry. Now it plans to move into the industrial compressor market – worth well over £2 billion a year.
Steve Lindsey (pictured), founder and chief executive of Lontra, said: “Industrial air is a large market. Compressors are one of the most energy-intensive tools. But today they are inefficient – the air either leaks or is not compressed properly. I believe we can take a big bite out of the industrial compressor market, thanks to our efficient, oil-free design.”
The company’s air compressor technology is best imagined as a piston and cylinder, but with the piston wrapped into a ring doughnut shape. The design involves a constantly open intake port, without valves. As the piston rotates, it induces a complete volume of air behind it until it reaches the starting point. A blade passing through the disc releases the compressed air. This means that it has an almost continuous cycle of inducing air behind and compressing air in front, with oil-free geometry providing internal compression with very low leakage and low inlet and outlet flow losses, that is quieter, smoother and highly efficient.
A low-pressure Blade Compressor producing 1bar (100kPa) has been proven in a trial with Severn Trent Water, where reductions in energy consumption of more than 20% were observed, said the firm. The technology is now licensed to Sulzer for production in the municipal and regulated wastewater sector. The multimillion-pound deal will see aeration equipment incorporating Lontra’s technology sold across 150 countries.
Concept work already undertaken shows the compact, double-acting rotary compressor has the potential to produce air in the range of pressures required by industry, typically 7-10bar. Lontra’s BladeAir project will see the development of a prototype and testing rig to demonstrate performance benefits to potential licensees. The project is scheduled to be complete in 18 months. Lontra plans to recruit four development engineers and designers at its headquarters who will be dedicated to BladeAir. The project will create a further eight jobs over the next three years.
Lindsey said that companies in the compression market had been making money from sales and spares for many years, and were conservative in their approach to the design of new products. Lontra wanted to shake the sector up, to provide compressed air users across industry with greater choice, he said.
“We want to take a new view on an industry that most people ignore. We’ve proven our technology in production in the low-pressure market with Sulzer. We will be taking that core technology into the industrial compression industry.
“The new funding will enable us to make prototypes that will allow us to take the next step. We’re commercially focused. We have a strong team of engineers and aim to produce a reliable, cheaply manufacturable design.
“I expect that to happen within 18 months,” he said.
The £250,000 funding for the project comes from Innovate UK.