History and Background

After three years of collaborative efforts, Professor Ian Smith from the City, University of London, who was focused on developing screw expanders for power recovery from low-grade heat, and Professor Nikola Stosic from the University of Sarajevo, an expert in the development of similar machines as compressors, laid the groundwork for what would become the Centre for Compressor Technology. The Centre was officially established in 1995 when Professor Nikola Stosic was awarded a Royal Academy Professorship, with industrial co-sponsorship from Holroyd, based in Milnrow, Lancashire.

Professor Ahmed Kovacevic, who had been working on screw compressors since 1986, joined the team in 1996 and pioneered the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to assess screw machine performance. Building on successful collaborations with industry, Professor Kovacevic was awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Compression Technologies in 2020, with industrial co-sponsorship from Howden Compressors of Glasgow.

Dr Elvedin Mujic joined the Centre, contributing significantly to noise reduction before moving on to a senior position in the industry. He was followed by Dr Ashvin Dhunput, who also now holds a senior industrial role. More recently, Dr Matthew Read joined the team as a lecturer at the School of Science and Technology, where he plays a crucial role in integrating expanders into power recovery systems. Dr. Sham Rane, who joined the Centre in 2011, has made significant advancements in CFD modelling of rotary positive displacement machines. The Centre’s newest members include Mr. Aleks Krupa, our electronics and measurements guru; Ivona Ivkovic-Kihic, the Centre’s research project coordinator and researchers Vahid Hassani and Hossein Keshtkar.