The Process Industry

The process industry must continue to push the boundaries to put the Tees Valley at the forefront of state-of-the-art science.

And the Centre for Process Innovation is doing just that.

Set up in 2004 to act as a driver for the process industry in the North-east, it is one of regional development agency One NorthEast’s five centres of excellence.

The team is driving projects worth tens of millions of pounds at local, national and international level.

And science fiction is fast becoming science fact thanks to its efforts.

Nigel Perry, CPI chief executive, said: “The North-east is a world-class centre for the process industry. We are working to maintain that leading position in the years to come.”

CPI’s Flexible Electronics Facility is working on a range of projects which, although may sound the stuff of make believe, are closer to reality than you think.

A pounds 2m flexible electronics coater facility shared with Dupont Teijin Film in a cleanroom at Wilton is helping CPI in its bid to lead the race for the development of paper-thin screens.

Tom Taylor, director of functional materials, said the team is also working to develop lighting as thin as film to be used in signs, displays, posters and even illuminated wallpaper.

CPI is also working to take the renewable energy industry to the next level.

The pounds 5m National Industrial Biotechnology Facility has been established at Wilton.

Key to its work is the development of biorefineries, which use biomass material, such as specially grown crops or waste material, and convert them to fuel, energy, chemicals and heat.

The processes in biorefineries involve more natural, cleaner and greener ways of making chemicals ( which is crucial as we reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy.

CPI has also developed the pounds 1.5m Fuel Cell Application Facility at Wilton to push forward green energy schemes.

The FCAF has already produced and tested a number of fuel cell systems across the Tees Valley, including a sign on the Transporter Bridge and lighting at Teesside Crematorium’s chapel of remembrance.

(c) 2007 Evening Gazette – Middlesbrough. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.