Aquascientific: Efficient, robust and environmentally sound

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Aquascientific: Efficient, robust, environmentally sound technology

There is no denying that the development of the UK’s marine energy industry is moving at fast pace. With Britain’s geography and engineering expertise favouring success in the sector a number of companies have popped up over recent years. Aquascientific are one of the newest enterprises to emerge, what makes them unique? We talk to Alexei Janssen, the companies communications director, and explore the company’s approach to the market, what sets their technology apart from their competitor’s and what their planned next steps are in building the business and making it known in the field.

Aquascientific was founded in 2006 by Dr Adrian Janssen and Professor Michael Belmont. The two had attended university together some 30 years prior, however it was by chance that they emerged as partners in this venture, as Adrian had approached the University of Exeter with his idea to find that Professor Belmont was the establishment’s expert.

Alexei Janssen is the son of Adrian and was brought in more recently to deal with the company’s business management, ‘I came on board to begin the marketing and business strategy’, describes Alexei. Dr Yi Sun, previously of the University of Exeter’s business department, was also recruited onto the team with the task of managing the organisations finances and funding bids.

From the outset the team showed resilience. Following the creation of a computer model for their design a government grant panel declined to award them funding to develop the concept. Refusing to be disheartened by the exercise the team set about creating a wind prototype from balsawood and tested it in one of the University’s wind tunnels. Proof of the concept in action went on to aid them in securing a grant of £270,000 from the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).

In addition to the grant from the TSB, Aquascientific secured a further £70,000 from the Royal Society; ‘we’re extremely proud of our relationship with the Royal Society, they come with a lot of kudos,’ states Alexei. The funding was used to create two further prototypes. The first was created for tank testing and the second will be tested in open water. The 10KW prototype is 2m wide and 1.5 m deep and will be deployed in the River Exe estuary for three months over the summer.

Alexei describes the primary difference of their technology as being that it generates higher power outputs through the use of both lift and drag, as opposed to most marine devices that just use lift. Other key differences that Alexei describes include the blades being attached at both ends, meaning that the devices are a lot more robust. Furthermore as the mechanism works with a variable aspect ratio it is better suited to shallow water, also the blades move at slower speeds and so do not harm sea life, such as seals and fish, this is a factor that the company have received fantastic support for from environmental charities such as Green World Trust and the RSPB.

Continued development of the technology is something that Alexei anticipates for some time to come. ‘Marine devices are simple to look at, but fluid dynamics is extremely complex. We have a base efficiency of 55% which is a good start, but as years go on and understanding increases our optimisations will increase efficiency year in year out, says Alexei, who continues ‘we can create different devices for different contexts, we’re currently looking at the Amazon, the Nile, estuaries including the Severn the Mersey and offshore projects’

The focus of the technologies development is currently centred on estuarine environments, largely due to the Severn Barrage Project. Using their technology the company believe the project would be a lot cheaper have a much reduced environmental impact and still produce the same volume of energy. ‘We have put in a bid for some money from the Embryonic Technology Fund to develop more data to illustrate this, and demonstrate that we have a better solution than the Severn Barrage,’ comments Alexei.

The company is currently bidding for further grants amounting to £600,000 in order to develop further optimisations and prototypes, and for the first time are seeking private investment. A recent trip to Monaco to speak with potential investors came back with good results. The team are now waiting for the results from the three month prototype trial before they continue their search, Alexei states, ‘once we have collected the results we will be going out to discuss further funding, our next stage is all about funding.’

As well as the securing of funds the team recognise the value of experience and expertise, ‘Preferably an investor would have industrial or business experience, we don’t just want money, but facilities and expertise,’ explains Alexei. To date the company has four employees, contracting out work to organisations such as Frazer Nash and making use of university researchers. However they are now at the point where they are looking to grow and are interviewing non-executive directors who are able to invest time over money.

Aquascientific is now at the stage where it is looking to partner with players in the industry, particularly mechanical engineering companies, developers and utilities. ‘Currently we’re not particularly well known’, says Alexei who feels that many utilities have already selected the marine devices they hope to back. However the team do feel they have been well placed to learn from the experience of these businesses and are well placed to break through. ‘I used to feel as though we were playing catch up, but now I’ve relaxed a bit. I like to think we’re the tortoise in the hare and the tortoise. I’m hoping that in the long term, robust and efficient technology will be forced to the forefront.’

Over the next year Alexei hopes that the business will have secured the funding for the preliminary design stage of the 1MW demonstrator. When asked where they hope to be in 5 years Alexei replies, ‘we hope to have completed sea trials of the 1MW prototype plus optimisers and be on the edge of the commercial stage ready to deploy our first devices’.

Individuals wanting to learn more about Aquascientific can meet the team at the CleanTech Innovation Forum. One to one meetings with Alexei, Adrian or Michael can be booked using our online meeting service; they will be hosting a session at 14.00 and can be found at the Wave and Tidal Innovation Showcase within the exhibition.