Hear from the J&E Hall Gold Medal winner, Professor Ahmed Kovacevic, FREng, as he presents his award-winning research.  

Date and time

Date: 29th October 2025

Time: 16:15-17:45 ( time to be confirmed) 

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Download the Paper

The paper will be available in October 2024

Paper outline

Positive displacement screw compressors are widely used in industry for refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps, as well as for compression of air, process gasses and many other applications.  With the growing demands for energy efficiency and Net-0 economy, it becomes increasingly important to minimise energy consumption and maximise reliability of positive displacement compressors.

The talk will outline challenges in performance modelling of screw machines using low order chamber thermodynamic models and higher order Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) together with Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) models and propose methods which could be used for reliable performance predictions and design of such machines.

The lecture will present project “SECRET” – Smart Efficient Compression: Reliability and Energy Targets funded by the British Royal Academy of Engineering and Howden. This project is set to develop new generation of efficient and reliable oil-free screw compressors for use in challenging applications such as hydrogen compression and heat pump applications. This includes understanding of the flow physics in clearances of rotating positive displacement machines.

Industrial consortium “CERES” – Compressors and Expanders in Future Energy Systems, formed at City St George’s, University of London will be demonstrated alongside some of the research projects funded by the members of the consortium. This will include projects on use of AI for rotor profiling, sustainable lubrication and screw compressors for water vapour compression.

Presenter

Professor Ahmed Kovacevic holds prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Compressor Technology at City St George’s, University of London. His work is dedicated to development of design excellence in academia and industry through research, teaching and collaborating with industry in numerical modelling, analysis and design of positive displacement machines.  He is the director of the Centre for Compressor Technology and chairs International conference on Compressors and their Systems. He is the director of PDM Analysis Ltd, a spin-out company from City which develops and commercialises SCORG.

Professor Kovacevic has authored 11 books and book chapters, more than hundred and fifty referenced journal and conference papers, several patents and industrial reports. He received 14 awards for his work including prestigious IMechE James Clayton Prize 2020, InstMC Cornish Award 2024 and J&E Hall International Gold Medal in 2025. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK and an Academician of the Academy of Science and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Venue

Gulbenkian Room, Park Crescent Conference Centre, 229 Great Portland St, Marylebone, London, W1W 5PN