The Thermal Technologies Centre – a collaboration between the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and Tata Steel – opened for business on May 31 in Middlesbrough, U.K. Based at Tata Steel’s Teesside Technology Centre, the new facility provides world-leading expertise, assets and capabilities to enable thermal-processing businesses to innovate new products and processes. It brings together the thermal-processing skills of Tata Steel and the technology-innovation capability of CPI. In addition to laboratory and demonstration-scale assets, the Thermal Technologies Centre offers services for customers seeking to investigate, develop and scale up thermal products and processes.

The Thermal Technologies Centre currently offers two demonstration-scale assets: a multi-mode gasifier and a batch pyrolyzer. These enable the processing of biomass or other alternative feedstocks, plus end-of-use materials, to produce energy and low-carbon fuels. These demonstration-scale assets are supported by laboratory-scale facilities and a comprehensive analytical capability.