Research into cycloidal gearing gave Olly Dmitriev, CEO of Vert Rotors UK, the idea that the principles of this technology could be applied to a compressor. The new type of oil-free screw compressor developed and patented by Vert Rotors has proved to be 35 % more energy efficient than dry oil-free machines. The main reason for this energy saving is that there is no stator in the design, which is common in rotary twin shaft compressors and which allows the gas being compressed to leak back.
The Vert Rotors compressors have only a pair of male and female screws with virtually no clearance between them, which is where the need for high accuracy 5-axis machining originated for the company. Olly Dmitriev says, “Until recently all micro compressors capable of producing pressures over 2 -3 bar were piston compressors, which produce a lot of vibration. Our rotary design is virtually vibration free, which is vital where the compressor is located next to delicate sensors. Example applications where there is a need for a vibration free compressor include satellites or medical devices. Our new 100W desktop compressor “VERT.04” produces pressure of 8 bar without vibration, and uses small, high accuracy rotors which need to be machined in 5-axis. We looked at a variety of machines and chose the HSC 20 linear . The machine has linear drives and scales unaffected by backlash and the composite granite frame gives exceptional temperature stability making it possible to achieve 5 μm accuracy and very high quality surface finish of Ra 0.15 µm.”
