Almost all manufacturing industries use compressed air in some aspect of their operations, converting power from a motor into kinetic energy by compressing and pressurizing air.
Annually, UK industry uses over 10TWh of electricity to compress air – equivalent to the output of almost 1.5 power stations and over 5 million tonnes of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere (The Carbon Trust, 2012). Market leading industrial air Screw Compressor systems are based on designs dating to 1935 that are expensive to manufacture and maintain, and are highly energy inefficient. Given the cost of high electricity consumption and associated CO2 emissions, manufacturing industries are investigating alternative solutions to produce clean, high quality air with lower energy costs, improved operational efficiency and reduced environmental impact.
Lontra Limited has developed an innovative compressor concept based on a compact, double acting rotary compressor which has the potential to produce air in the range of pressures. To date, the Blade CompressorTM has been successfully demonstrated at low pressure (1bar) in the Municipal & Regulated Wastewater sector, where reductions in energy consumption of >20% were observed. Industrial air represents a large market, where significant energy saving benefits can be achieved. In this market, typical pressure ranges are from 7-10 bar. To address industry requirements, Lontra will further develop the Blade Compressor, overcoming a number of mechanical design challenges to achieve a high pressure Blade Compressor demonstration prototype to stimulate further interest following initial discussions with stakeholders in the food processing, cement, fabric & carbon black manufacturing industries & potential licensing partners (eg. compressor OEMs). Application specific trials will follow 6 months from project end; with market entry expected late 2017.