Oxford Flow
Oxford Flow was spun out of Oxford University Engineering Department’s Osney Thermo-Fluids Laboratory in 2015 to commercialise a new type of flow regulating valve for gases and liquids.
With mechanical properties superior to any products currently on the market, valves designed using OF’s IP are smaller, lighter and more reliable than existing comparable valves. By significantly reducing the number of parts in a valve from the 100 typically found in incumbent units, OF’s products are virtually maintenance free, offering significant savings in OpEx budgets. Customers include water and gas utilities, the Oil & Gas industry and multiple industrial processes.
Founder
Professor Tom Povey
Tom is a Professor of Engineering Science and a Tutorial Fellow of University College, where he is also the Tacchi Fellow in Engineering Science. He completed a degree in Physics at St Catherine’s College Oxford, followed by a DPhil in Engineering Science (Turbomachinery) in the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Heat Transfer and Aerodynamics at Oxford University. Following his DPhil Tom was appointed as the Rolls Royce Industrial Fellow at St Catherine’s College before taking up his current post as Tutorial Fellow at University College in 2004. In 2008 he took up the Tacchi Fellowship in Engineering Science, and in 2014 became a Professor of Engineering Science.
His research group pioneered accurate metal effectiveness measurement techniques, ultra-high-accuracy engine capacity measurement techniques, and high frequency (10 KHz) cooling modulation methods by acoustic optimisation of cooling holes. Tom has published more than 70 papers in turbomachinery conferences and journals, with an emphasis on turbine performance, heat transfer, and combined aero/cooling problems. He has supervised about 50 final year projects and eight finished PhD theses.
