The world´s most energy efficient Industrial Air Compressor

Project Information

Airon

Grant agreement ID: 101218062

DOI

10.3030/101218062

EC signature date 4 June 2025

Start date 1 June 2025

End date 31 May 2027

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 2 473 954,56

Coordinated by

ENAIRON AB
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Airon (The world´s most energy efficient Industrial Air Compressor)

Reporting period: 2025-06-01 to 2026-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Compressed air is one of the most widely used and most energy-intensive utilities in European industry: around 70% of industrial sectors rely on it, and its generation accounts for roughly 10% of global industrial electricity consumption. For most users electricity represents 80–90% of the lifecycle cost of a compressor, yet conventional screw and turbo compressors reach less than 50% energy efficiency and lose performance over time through wear. Reducing this waste is directly relevant to the European Green Deal, REPowerEU and the revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2023/1791, which identifies compressed air as a priority savings area.
AIRON develops a disruptive alternative: a patented gravity-driven, fluid-type air compressor. Instead of compressing air through metal-to-metal contact at high rotational speed (up to 25,000 RPM), the technology uses a slowly rotating spiral filled with alternating batches of air and water. Gravity makes the water columns act as pistons, generating pressure through incremental height differences in an almost isothermal process. This eliminates internal leakage regardless of speed, delivers 100% oil-free air, produces negligible wear and enables a 0–100% capacity control range. The result is an industrial compressor that reaches around 75% efficiency and roughly 37% lower electricity consumption per unit of compressed air than the best available conventional machines.
The overall objective of the project is to advance the technology from an industrially demonstrated prototype to a fully qualified commercial product, by designing, manufacturing and validating the first series of 400 kW compressors – a tenfold increase in air volume compared with the current prototype. The project runs over 24 months and is organised into design and optimisation, manufacturing and installation, pilot demonstration in an operational environment, commercialisation, project management and IPR activities. Its pathway to impact is to provide energy-intensive industries (pulp and paper, metals, chemicals, manufacturing and food and beverage) with a technically proven, financially attractive route to cut compressed-air electricity use and associated CO2 emissions, supporting both customer competitiveness and EU industrial decarbonisation targets.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first reporting period the design and optimisation work package was completed in full. Its five tasks delivered the complete, manufacturing-ready design of the 400 kW gravity compressor. Real-world operational data from the industrial reference installation were analysed alongside all previous prototype generations to establish the design baseline, confirming prototype efficiency consistently above 75% and identifying the gearbox and the rotary fluid (swivel) joint as the main optimisation targets. No fundamental barriers to scaling up to 400 kW were found.
Using a purpose-built profitability and performance calculator that combines a thermodynamic model with a 30-year lifecycle cost model, the team finalised the detailed design of all parts and assemblies. All nine key components and sub-systems – the core spiral, motor, gearbox, brake, bearings, swivel joint, cooling system, filtration system and control unit – were individually evaluated and verified to function as an integrated system through thermal, fluid, mechanical and control analyses.
An automated production process for the core pipe spiral was developed and validated through small-scale pre-production trials, achieving a production cost reduction of at least 60% against the manual baseline – the one design KPI confirmed by physical trials – while the central structure was redesigned into a modular bolted assembly. The validated control and communication software was completed, supporting standard industrial protocols and seasonal/environmental adaptation. The design was carried out throughout with CE-certification readiness in mind against the relevant machinery, pressure-equipment, eco-design and functional-safety standards. Milestone 1 (finalised optimised design plan) and the first regular reporting/compliance milestone were achieved, the complete engineering documentation package was released for the manufacturing phase, and a new patent application was filed as a direct outcome of the design programme.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The gravity-compression principle goes beyond incremental improvement of conventional compressors. Whereas state-of-the-art variable-speed screw compressors stay below 50% efficiency and degrade by up to 30% over their lifetime through metal wear, the AIRON design uses water as a wear-free sealing and pistoning medium. This removes internal leakage at any rotational speed, gives oil-free air, and keeps efficiency stable over an expected service life many times longer than conventional machines, with a full 0–100% capacity control range and very low noise. The completed design confirms, by analysis, around 75% efficiency and roughly 37% lower electricity use at the rated operating point.
A further advance beyond the state of the art is the manufacturing know-how: an automated winding process for the core pipe spiral. Demonstrated in physical pre-production trials, together with a modular central structure. These results make a tenfold scale-up to 400 kW commercially viable rather than merely technically possible. The work also produced a new patent filing, strengthening an already substantial protected intellectual-property position.
The performance figures for efficiency, electricity savings and lifespan are so far based on thermodynamic and engineering analysis and have not yet been validated through full-scale testing of the 400 kW unit. The key needs to ensure further uptake are therefore: full-scale manufacturing and installation; pilot demonstration and performance verification in an operational environment in accordance with the relevant displacement-compressor test standard; CE certification; continued IPR protection and freedom-to-operate review; access to scale-up finance; and conversion of early-adopter interest into validated industrial reference cases.