09 November 2020
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Edinburgh-based Vert Technologies is seeking £3 million of further investment to accelerate its delivery of new compressor designs for refrigeration OEMs.
The company manufactures a conical rotary compressor (CRC) and says the funding will be used to build on the momentum of CRC with OEM refrigeration companies requiring innovative air compressor solutions to help them meet tightening environmental regulations. Vert says it is already working with several OEMs in the sector and the expectation is that at least one will reach volume sales or licensing stage by the end of 2021.
Vert CEO Phil Harris says that the investment is a critical part of bringing refrigeration designs with embedded CRC technology to the market. “This stage of funding will accelerate the delivery of the OEM specific designs we are already working on and allow us to develop a low-cost, high volume manufacturing capability that can produce the numbers of units that the OEMs require.
“The longer-term value of the CRC technology will be driven by the strength of market pull from OEMs who want to embed the CRC technology in their own products. We are highly selective when developing new OEM proprietary applications, which can be seen from the quality of OEM partners we are working with. All projects must be funded and have substantial end market potential.”
In comparison to traditional air compressor technology that use rotating screws placed side by side to generate compressed air, the Vert technology places one rotor inside the other. The rotors turn in the same direction at different speeds compressing the air or gas as it travels down the conical screw to deliver a low noise, low vibration compressed air solution that is still capable of producing exceptionally high pressures.
The technology is said to be suitable across multiple sectors with refrigeration, heat pumps, expanders and hand-held tools being viewed as key target markets. Using in-house software, the geometry of the CRC technology is scalable without any compromise on performance. Rotors as small as 80 watt and 40mm long can be designed making the technology suitable for even the smallest application.
Harris added: “The refrigeration sector has been quick to realise the potential of CRC technology to deliver the air pressures required for use with new refrigerant gases that have a lower global warming potential, which in turn can help OEMs deliver on the tightening environmental legislation. This funding round will accelerate CRC’s penetration of the sector and ensure that we have the production capacity to deliver for our OEM partners.”
