NORTH KINGSTOWN – The engineering problem is well known: as blades on wind turbines become larger in size, how can you create more stability in the aerodynamic flow of wind around the blades without adding more expense to the manufacture of the blades, in order to increase performance efficiency?

Aquanis, an early stage firm based in North Kingstown, has licensed patented technology developed by researchers at the University of Notre Dame to create an innovative solution: a simple, inexpensive device known as a blade-mounted plasma flow actuator.

Last week, the Slater Technology Fund announced that it had invested $200,000 in Aquanis, once again serving as the prescient seed investor in Rhode Island technology companies with great potential upside.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s goal is to quadruple the domestic wind power generating capacity by the year 2030, growing from a market share of about 4.5 percent today to 20 percent.

Aquanis founder and CEO Neal E. Fine, Ph.D., described the potential market for the firm’s device to include all new wind turbine construction, which is currently manufacturing some 25,000 utility-scale turbines a year, with the market projected to grow by 12 percent through 2025.

The customers that Aquanis is initially targeting include the top 10 wind manufacturers, including Vestas, Siemens, GE, Goldwind, Enercon and Suzlon, which combined, represent about 70 percent of the global market.

In terms of translating that into projected potential revenue flow for Aquanis, Fine told ConvergenceRI that by capturing a small percentage of that market with modest conversion rates, “We think we could reach tens of millions of dollars by 2021.”

Translated, a small technology company with great expertise and an innovative product could become a leading firm within Rhode Island’s innovation ecosystem within the next five years.

Fine, who brings more than 20 years of experience in R&D in fluid dynamics and aeronautical systems, has a management team that includes Shmuel Halevi as president and John A. Cooney as chief technology officer.

The advisory board includes: Thomas C. Corke, Ph.D., Clark Chair Professor of Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, and founder of the Notre Dame Center for Flow Physics and Control; Kenneth Breuer, Ph.D., professor of Aeronautical Engineering at Brown University; Stephen Nolet, senior director of Innovation & Technology at TPI Composites, Inc., a wind turbine blade manufacturer with a facility in Warren; Adam Pool, CEO of Environmental Investment Partners, and member of the Clean Energy Venture and Walnut Angel Groups; and Ron Schenk, a mentor associated with the MIT Venture Mentoring service.

Here is the ConvergenceRI interview with Neal Fine, founder and CEO of Aquanis.

ConvergenceRI: In your own words, can you describe what exactly is a blade-mounted plasma flow actuator and how it works?
FINE: It’s a purely electrical device that moves air. The way it works, it is a simple device, a thin layer of electrically insulating material, less than a millimeter, thicker than a sheet of paper, less thick than a newspaper.

On either side of that material is an electrode, which allows you to ionize the air on the top of that surface.

Because of the geometry and the way the device drives the flow of electricity, if you put your hand downstream, you would feel a breeze.

It is a little breeze; it does not move a ton of air. You won’t use it as a fan.

But for aerodynamic purposes, the device can manipulate the flow around the body [of the blade] to create a more efficient aerodynamic system [of air flow].

There are no moving surfaces.

It is not a new technology; it’s been around in academic circles for 20 to 30 years.

What is new is the way in which the device can increase the speed at which the air moves.

The thing that was holding the technology back was that it didn’t move enough air; it worked on a small scale and at a low speed.

ConvergenceRI: What changed? Were there new developments in the technology as a result of the research at Notre Dame?
FINE: Researchers at Notre Dame figured out how to increase the control authority, or how fast you can move the air, by an order of magnitude.

It made the device more than 100 times more efficient, creating the potential to commercialize the device and have an impact on a large scale in wind energy. I saw an opportunity to license that breakthrough technology.

ConvergenceRI: Why are you so optimistic about the potential growth of the wind turbine market and the relationship to the new device.
FINE: The timing is really good. The industry is showing tremendous growth globally and in the U.S. The challenge is how to reduce the cost of wind energy.

Because wind developers are all eyeing the same problem that they have identified and that needs to be solved: reducing the cost of wind energy.

The new technology can help them do that. The current share of generation for wind energy is around 4.5 percent. The industry and the government would like that to grow to 20 percent by 2030.

ConvergenceRI: What has been the response from the companies to date about your product?
FINE: Our strategy is to engage with the manufacturers and tell them about this breakthrough technology.

Our plan is to do prototype testing in a wind tunnel and a full-scale demonstration on a wind tubine,  with wind turbines and to share the data with them.

We want to generate interest with as many manufacturers as possible.

So far, there has been keen interest in the technology.

ConvergenceRI: Where will the testing take place?
FINE: We are working with the University of Notre Dame. We licensed the technology from Notre Dame, and they have a tremendous array of wind tunnels that satisfy our testing needs. This also gives us access to the professors that are leading the research.

We have not yet identified the test turbine for our full-scale demonstration. Our goal is to work with the National Renewable Energy Research Laboratory.

ConvergenceRI: Have you been in contact with Deepwater Wind about your new product?
FINE: We have briefed them. But we plan to do an onshore test of the device, which will give us more than enough data and sensory acquisitions and third-party validation for the technology.

ConvergenceRI: Do you think that the device may have other applications beyond wind turbine blades?
FINE: Right now, we want to stay focused on wind energy. In the future, there are lots of potential applications anywhere lift and drag are important.

ConvergenceRI: Can you explain the economics of how your device can lower wind energy costs?
FINE: Wind turbine manufacturers are faced with the problem of how to reduce the future costs of wind energy. The cost of wind energy has already dropped some 75 percent over the last several decades. This dramatic fall has been fueled by the ever-increasing turbine size and the introduction of new manufacuring techniques. But there are limits to this trend due to the increased wear and tear on the blades and on the turbine's gearbox due to unsteady aerodynamic forces. Our device will allow the turbines to react to changes in the wind, improving their efficiency and extending their service life.

It makes it a good time for Aquanis. With our device, which we can put on as an adhesive patch on the surface, with no moving parts, is a much less expensive solution, because it doesn’t change the design and manufacture of the blades.

We have the secret sauce, so to speak, to leap frog over the other technologies.

ConvergenceRI: What was the importance of the Slater Fund investment for your company?
FINE: Slater is so much more than an investor group. Slater helped me focus on zeroing in on the correct value proposition. They also made me realize that the wind manufacturers had to become involved early on in our development. They have been great to work with.