Knowledge Transfer Partnership takes Hudds firm to next level
Winning team - Pictured with HR Blowers owner Martin Adams (far right) are (l-r) KTP Associate Euan Armstrong with the University's Professor Rakesh Mishra and Research Fellow Taimoor Asim.
Mon, 06 Jul 2015 00:00:00 BST
KTP project will enable local firm HR Blowers to improve products and develop new designs
AN ambitious company with a long heritage of specialist engineering expertise has teamed up with the University of Huddersfield for research that will help it develop new products and enter new markets.
The firm is Holmfirth-based HR Blowers, directly descended from a sequence of companies that have marketed a range of industrial air blowers – widely used for applications such as pneumatic conveying – for more than 85 years.
Now, it has embarked on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the University Huddersfield, where Professor Rakesh Mishra is a leading expert in the field of fluid dynamics and who has formed highly productive research collaborations with a large number of firms.
During the KTP with HR Blowers, the technique known as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling will be used to enable the company to gain a detailed scientific understanding of its tried and tested products by predicting the performance and dynamic fluid flow through the blowers. This will then be a basis for developing improved, more efficient products and also new designs, so that the company can expand and enter new markets.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships receive funding via the Government-backed Technology Strategy Board. The project with HR Blowers and the University of Huddersfield has a value of £200,000 and it sees engineering graduate Euan Armstrong (pictured left) based at the company as KTP associate, supervised by Professor Mishra. While carrying out research for the three-year project, Euan will also be working towards his doctorate.
Professor Mishra explained that the KTP has both experimental and practical dimensions. Facilities at the University are used for computer simulation. Meanwhile, a special test rig is being constructed at HR Blowers.
“The KTP contains the entire envelope of research – computational, analytical and experimental,” said Professor Mishra. “HR Blowers is a highly-motivated company and I am confident that we can help them become world class.”
The firm takes its name from the product it manufactures – Holmes Roots blowers. These have been in production for more than 85 years and are noted for reliability and longevity. The products have been managed by a sequence of Huddersfield companies – W.C. Holmes, Peabody Holmes and Dresser-Roots. In the most recent development, the firm was acquired by Martin Adams, renamed HR Blowers and joined the Universal Group of Companies. Production was relocated to Holmfirth, where specialist machinery was reinstalled and where a team of experienced engineers are now based.
