Aeristech wins prestigious Institute of Physics Business Award

Aeristech, has been awarded a 2019 Institute of Physics Business Innovation Award for the invention of a new class of variable speed motor. 

The Aeristech ACT motor is a variable speed motor that is more power dense than comparable motors; it delivers exceptional acceleration, high continuous power output and efficiency.

To date three applications have been commercialised based on coupling an ACT motor to a compressor wheel. The resulting centrifugal compressors spin twice as fast as any other, delivering oil-free air at pressures and in quantities previously only possible if using a positive displacement compressor.

The IOP Business Awards recognise large and small companies that have built success on the creative application of physics. There are very few awards that do this.

The application of physics has the potential to produce cutting-edge technologies, and to drive business innovation and growth. It also fuels significant positive societal and economic transformation, both locally and globally.

Now, more than ever, we need continued investment to ensure a healthy supply of physicists in the UK and Ireland. These awards remind us of that, and of what can be achieved when our talent is encouraged, developed and rewarded.

Jonathan Flint, Institute of Physics President

A technology that delivers environmental benefits, with significant savings in cost and energy while enabling applications that were previously impossible.

The Aeristech centrifugal compressor has game-changing applications;

• As an electric supercharger supplying the air to a down sized automobile internal combustion engine delivering the performance of a much larger engine without turbolag. Reductions of up to 26% in fuel consumption and emissions. 
• Fuel cells, using expensive, inefficient positive displacement compressors, expend over a quarter of their output pressurising their inlet air supply. An alternative Aeristech centrifugal compressor uses 40% less energy. 
• Aeristech is  testing the world’s first centrifugal compressor for use in industry. The 30kW air compressor has three stages. Using up to 30% less energy than its competitors, it supplies oil-free air at a pressure of 8 bars. 

The Institute of Physics (IOP) is the professional body and learned society for physics, and the leading body for practising physicists, in the UK and Ireland.  The IOP Business Awards are unique in the UK and Ireland in recognising the significant contribution that physicists and physics make in industry. 

The IOP Business Innovation Award specifically recognises and celebrates companies that have excelled in innovation, delivering significant economic and/or societal impact through the application of physics. 

This award is worth winning as an Institute of Physics award has a provenance that few others can match.

Mike Woodroffe, Aeristech co-founder

The winners were presented with their awards at a ceremony in the Houses of Parliament on 16th October; an evening recognising entrepreneurship and excellence in physics and innovation.

Read all about it on the IOP website.