UK-based technology innovation provider for process manufacturing, the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), has revealed that the three-year project ‘Chariot’ — a consortium set up to drive the commercialisation for new and improved powder-based consumer products — has reached a successful conclusion.
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The £18 million project, funded by the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative, has delivered and demonstrated multiple technologies allowing reinvention of supply chains for the powder industry. As a result of the project’s success, a pipeline growth for the broader UK industry is anticipated with reapplication and further commercialisation of the technologies that were developed within the consortium.
All equipment, open-access facilities and expertise developed during the Chariot project will continue to be made available to UK-based companies at CPI's National Formulation Centre in Sedgefield. Companies active in developing powders and granules can use the powder mixing test bed on a commercial basis, or as part of R&D activities, to develop new products and processing techniques.
In addition to the equipment developed in the Chariot project, CPI has invested in Process Analytical Technology-enabled wet granulation technologies and a packing and filling test bed, as well as extensive characterisation capability in particle size distribution, powder rheology, and surface properties. These facilities and accompanying expertise have been established to support companies in the development of new products and techniques, as well as the optimisation of processing, packing and filling activities.
Those involved in the consortium alongside CPI included Procter & Gamble (which was the project lead), International Innovative Technologies, Ajax and high profile academics from the Universities of Leeds, Birmingham, Cranfield and Durham.
“Chariot has been an exciting venture for Ajax. As an SME, we have benefited from the strong collaborative approach with the industrial and academic partners. In particular, a key understanding has been provided by Positron Emission Particle Tracking tests that revealed the key interactions and particle movements within the Ajax mixer to confirm its effectiveness for dry and wet mixing,” stated Simon Fields, senior technical engineer at Ajax. “We look forward to maintaining lasting relationships with the project partners, and in particular, supporting CPI as a provider of comprehensive test and development facilities for the powder processing industries.”
“Within Procter & Gamble, the Chariot project has been a novel approach to traditional R&D development — but this has helped us work with different partners, to accelerate the innovation and find some out of the box ideas. Based on this experience, we will certainly be looking to leverage the capability Chariot has laid down, and approach future work in similar ways,” said Clare Martin, section head R&D, at Procter & Gamble. “We are very happy that CPI is moving into the powders processing industry, and its facilities in Sedgefield will undoubtedly aid the powder processing industry in the UK, with its high level of expertise and unique possibilities for collaboration and knowledge-sharing.”
Dr Graeme Cruickshank, director of the National Formulation Centre at CPI, commented: “We invite those who are looking for help in the development of powder formulations to visit us at the National Formulation Centre where we have a focus on helping companies meet their challenges by providing industry relevant expertise and facilities to solve real world problems. We’re proud to have successfully completed the Chariot project with our partners and look forward to enabling further innovation for organisations who develop powdered products.”