A Peterborough-based company, in partnership with a local university, is in line for a top innovation award for developing a device to control smells, dust and disease.
Air Pollution Products and Systems (APPS) in Luddington has been shortlisted for this year’s Lord Stafford Awards.
Launched in the West Midlands in 1997, the prestigious competition encourages closer links between universities and business and will be held in the East of England – Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk – for the first time this year.
APPS, which was founded in 1999 and employs 16 staff, has pioneered environmentally-friendly odour, dust and bacteria control in areas including sewage works, chemical plants, farms and food processing factories.
The company, which has outlets in Spain and Portugal, has devised a state-of-the-art atomiser for the Airborne 10 system. Unlike a masking agent, Airborne 10 involves technology which increases the absorbency of water half a million times, removing particulates, bacteria and gases to clean the air.
The static and mobile machines, which have been likened to giant air-cleaners, can be purchased or hired by clients or used as part of ongoing plant management agreements. Engineering behind the new atomiser, which improves the operational efficiency and range of the Airborne 10 system, has been developed after close links with Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.
A research project was launched following meetings between Airborne 10’s inventor Jim Edgar, chairman of APPS, and the university’s Professor Hassam Shirvani. The technical breakthrough was achieved after company chiefs had become frustrated at design problems. Dr Ahmad Ramezanpour, a research fellow with the university’s engineering analysis, simulation and tribology group (EAST), has been central to the collaborative work.
Having overcome the initial design frustrations, orders for the new systems are being placed in the UK and overseas, particularly in the Middle East. Vince Gosling, managing director of APPS, says: “The relationship with Anglia Ruskin University has proved extremely successful. “We have a product which, in a very competitive environment, is second to none in the world and, crucially, it has an extremely low carbon footprint. “We are pleased that we have been short-listed for the Lord Stafford Awards in recognition of what has been achieved.”
Lord Stafford, Awards Patron and Chair of the Judges, said: “APPS is a fantastic example of a company that has collaborated with a university to overcome a technical problem that threatened to hold up their progress. “I know this device is already helping to overcome challenges with air pollution and shows that technology can be the solution to the environmental issues industries face.”
Supported by Business Link and the Association of Universities in the East of England, the Lord Stafford Awards winners will be announced at an awards gala at the Mumford Theatre at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge on March 31.
To find out more about the Lord Stafford Awards, visit www.thelordstaffordawards.co.uk.