Industrial drying company in line for top innovation award

A Hertfordshire company’s ground-breaking invention which could save millions of pounds in industry energy costs is in line for a top award.

[UKPRwire, Sun Mar 29 2009] A Hertfordshire company’s ground-breaking invention which could save millions of pounds in industry energy costs is in line for a top award.
Elstree-based Secomak Ltd is on the short list for this year’s Lord Stafford Awards which seek to encourage closer links between universities and business.
Secomak, which is the market leader in industrial drying technology, linked up with the University of Hertfordshire to devise a better system of drying a wide range of products, including bottles, cans, jars, fruit, vegetable and consumer goods.
The aim of the collaboration between Secomak and the university was to achieve a big reduction in energy consumption without compromising performance.
Current drying machines are very high energy users in many industrial processes, accounting for up to 20 per cent of costs.
The new Powerstrip machine produced by Secomak and the university for the food and drink industry mirrors the way in which hybrid cars save energy.
It is equipped with sensors which can detect when a product needs to be dried – but switches itself off, sometimes for just a few seconds, when not needed.
Initial results achieved a reduction in energy consumption of up to 60 per cent.
Six Powerstrip machines have already recently been installed by Scottish & Newcastle Brewery at its Royal Brewery in Manchester and five at the Clonmel factory of Magners Irish Cider in Tipperary.
Mr David Dell, product development manager at Secomak, said: “The theory behind our machines is identical to the engineering solutions applied to the hybrid car.
“Supply on demand on a production line is identical to the stopping of a hybrid car engine when stationary. The car runs on petrol and electricity while our machines run on both blower-driven air and compressed air.
“With the package able to control noise and energy savings on all our systems, industrial dryers will now be able to make a real difference to our environment.
“Energy consumption figures for industry identify the process of drying as a major energy user. The UK manufacturing industry alone consumes 36 million tones of energy per annum direct from fossil fuels.
“Estimates indicate that if our energy-saving solutions were applied across drying in the manufacturing industry, it would save 3.7 million tonnes of fossil fuel per annum with corresponding reduced carbon emissions.
“The opportunity for significant energy reduction using this technology could be realised on a global scale. The prospective impact on society and climate are clearly of huge significance.”
Mr Dell added: “Our collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire School of Aerospace, Automotive and Design Engineering at Hatfield has exceeded expectations and created a very strong cohesion.
“We are looking to change industrial practices at a time when society is getting serious about energy savings.
“The Lord Stafford Awards are a superb initiative in recognising the increasingly closer bonds between universities and industry and so many ensuing innovative products.”
Launched in the West Midlands in 1997, the Lord Stafford Awards have been a tremendous success and were extended to the East Midlands in 2008.
The awards have now been spread for the first year to the East of England – Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
The East of England winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Mumford Theatre at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge on March 31.
Lord Stafford, Patron of the Awards and Chair of the Judges, said: “Secomak is a fantastic example of how innovation can be a huge benefit to not only the bottom line of a company but also the environment.
“Here we have a company, already a major player in the market, which has benefitted from working with its local university for some years and has now made a major breakthrough which could reduce energy consumption in the drying process by 60 per cent.
“I wish Secomak all the very best of luck for the awards ceremony on March 31.”