Ayrshire-based engineering services business Booth Welsh has developed a wireless monitoring system for the industrial process sectors following a collaboration project with Glasgow Caledonian University.
The two-year development project was delivered under the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) programme, a scheme led by the Technology Strategy Board, the UK’s innovation agency, and co-funded by the Research Councils and the Scottish Government.
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The programme is widely recognised as Europe’s leading knowledge transfer scheme and is focused on supporting business innovation in collaboration with the UK’s knowledge base.
The project allowed the University to impart its theoretical expertise in wireless technology, whilst Booth Welsh utilised its gained knowledge and technical understanding of process control to develop a wireless instrumentation monitoring system for a pneumatic conveying line within the university’s research labs. The conveying line is used in University research projects to analyse the resistance effects of varying types of particles through common process lines.
The wireless system was tested against the existing wired solution and is now being used to develop new research in the fields of wireless control and faster monitoring of various forms of conveyed materials.
Booth Welsh managing director Martin Welsh said that Booth Welsh is now deploying the wireless technology with clients across the oil and gas, whisky, pharmaceutical, nuclear, petrochemical and chemical, utilities and food and beverage industries.
He added: “At Booth Welsh we are continually exploring opportunities to enhance our expertise and drive improved efficiencies back to our customers.
“The project with Glasgow Caledonian University has been very exciting for us and has given us the opportunity to develop our theoretical understanding of wireless technology and provide the university with a unique measurement system as well as a number of new research fields in wireless and pneumatic conveying.
“Our customers demand that we are innovative in our approach to advanced process control and we have met this objective through the development of a system that offers our customers a more flexible and adaptive set of solutions to meet their future commercial needs.”
As part of the Knowledge Transfer project, Kenneth Armstrong was appointed as a KTP associate and employed by Glasgow Caledonian University. He gained a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Engineering throughout the project and is now employed by Booth Welsh as a systems engineer.
He said: “The programme has given me an opportunity to expand my professional expertise whilst developing my academic qualifications.
“It has been very rewarding to have worked closely with the University research team to develop a practical wireless solution for measuring mass flow rates of material along a pneumatic conveying line.
“I’m now really looking forward to using this knowledge and expertise in wireless technology to deliver further operational benefits to our clients at Booth Welsh.”
Paul McKenna, lecturer in control systems at Glasgow Caledonian University and the project leader, said: “Working with Booth Welsh, with their many links to major companies, gave us a great opportunity to make our research industrially relevant, these links allowed us to place many students on exciting real-world projects and also led to many students finding employment with various major companies. It was rewarding to work with the enthusiastic team at Booth Welsh and to work with a company with such a clear vision of the future.”
Dr Gerry Black, KTP adviser and regional coordinator, said: “Knowledge Transfer Partnerships support UK businesses wanting to improve their competitiveness, productivity and performance by accessing the knowledge and expertise available within UK Universities and Colleges.
“The project was a great success embedding a platform capability in Booth Welsh as well as developing a young engineer and giving an opportunity for the academic team to trial concepts in a real industrial setting.”
Operating across the UK and a number of international locations including Brazil, Singapore and Angola, Booth Welsh is a market leader in the provision ofprocess consultancy, engineering and design, project management, implementation and commissioning. Clients include GlaxoSmithKline, British Energy, EDF Energy, Veolia, Novartis, DSM, Nestle, Diageo and BP.
