Public Funding for The Technology Research Centre Limited

Tong Engineering Ltd is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high quality vegetable grading and handling equipment. We have over 90 years of experience in manufacturing advanced and intelligent handling systems for efficient grading, washing, polishing and processing of a wide variety of crop. There is growing 'desire' in the market place for crop quality assurance systems both from growers and processors, but for growers in particular, currently available system costs are prohibitive. We aim to create a versatile, low cost quality assurance system that utilises the latest Artificial Intelligence software and conveyor handling technology. We aim to combine this with new designs of mechanical sorting hardware to create a reliable, low cost sorting system. We also want the system to be quickly and easily re-deployed for vegetables such as potatoes, onions, carrots, parsnips, swede and beetroot. The system will be used to segregate foreign objects and vegetables with defects away from 'good' crop. These systems can be deployed at the farmer's store or in the processor's 'goods in yard' or in the processing factory to assess crop quality. We aim to lower the capital cost of such systems and improve their versatility so they can be re-deployed on other root crops quickly and easily.

In the current Covid pandemic, plastics are making a comeback. Concern for hygiene and plummeting oil prices have come together in a perfect storm, with a massive surge in production of PPE, water bottles, take-away food containers, pre-packaged produce, and home deliveries wrapped in single-use plastic bags; which will have long term environmental impacts. However, the plastics recycling sector has taken a severe hit. With the price of virgin plastics plummeting due to low oil prices, recyclers are currently unable to compete; jeopardising the economic viability of plastics recyclers. In addition, industries have been faced with direct disruption by Covid-19 -- recyclers are seeing lower order volumes as many of their customers are also operating at a reduced capacity -- creating redundancies from reduced demand and lower revenues. This has added severe pressure to an already highly price sensitive and competitive sector. This project seeks to address these challenges for recyclers, enabling them to recover from the effects of the Covid pandemic, developing a new AI machine learning tool that will increase their productivity and profitability and consequently support the UK plastics recycling sector in '_building back better_'.

A key challenge for plastic recyclers and a major limiting factor in producing recycled polymers, is the wide variation in base polymer input materials which means that meeting the customer specification is very challenging and every batch requires a unique formulation that must be derived experimentally; unlike virgin polymer compounders - who have a standard formulation which will consistently yield a compound with the desired properties. Multiple trial and error iterations are performed to match the specification for colour, as the relationship between mixed colours is not linear (e.g. blue plus yellow inputs do not always produce green). Formulating batches can take an average of 5 iterations to achieve the desired colour - and in some instances this can take up to 20 iterations. This phase 1 technical feasibility study and follow-on phase 2 prototype system development and testing project will help deliver the Government's Clean Growth Strategy by enabling plastic recyclers and compounders to improve business and industry efficiency by reducing processing costs experienced by having to produce multiple test batches of recycled material in order to achieve the customer's colour specification.

During the sorting & packing process, grape bunches can be found to possess a variety of defects; particularly botrytis (necrotrophic fungus), splits, shrivelled/damaged fruit, moulds and maggots, which can lead to accelerated rotting of fruit and decreased shelf life - 47% of grape punnets are affected by rots and moulds at current 'end of life'. This results in economic losses of £39million per annum and waste of ~12,900tonnes per annum of grape for UK wholesalers/retailers and households (AM Fresh & WRAP data). Typically workers are employed to manually look for and remove these defects, whilst the fruit is travelling along conveyors during the packing process. However the effects of Covid-19 has led to much lower numbers of workers available due to travel bans and the need for safe working environments. This situation is unlikely to improve, due to not only the lingering concerns with further Covid-19 waves, but also Brexit. As European workers make up a large proportion of the workforce, the entire food production sector is likely to suffer. Our solution is to develop an automated prototype system for grape processing that will identify defective fruit and trim during the packing process -- reducing the impacts of lower worker numbers and improving productivity and profitability. It is envisaged that some of the benefits of the solution will be: \***Reduced supply chain waste** - System users could benefit from enhanced revenues as the technology could extend shelf life and reduce grape losses. Extending shelf life from 5 to 7 days (through removing defective/damaged/diseased fruit) would reduce waste by 50% between packing and sale. This would leading to cumulative revenue increases of up to £19million per annum. \***Quality assurance** -- The presence of rotten fruit, spiders and webs etc in grape punnets is highly emotive to consumers and can results in considerable cost in terms of sales and public relations on the produce industry. Providing quality assurance by adopting this innovative automated approach could therefore improve public relations and consumer confidence; which may lead to sales uplifts. **Reduced impact of lower worker numbers** -- The impacts of Covid in the fresh produce sector have been substantial, due to travel bans, as ~90% of workers are from European nations. With Brexit looming, this situation is unlikely to improve. By automating the quality control process, our technology reduce the impacts on the sector imposed by Covid, and anticipated future impacts resulting from Brexit.

Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) is an NHS high priority, further heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic. The main pillars of IPC are use of PPE and rigorous hand hygiene. The preferred hand sanitisation method is handwashing (anti-microbial soap & water, rinse, dry with paper towels ~30 seconds total time) which achieves log 3 microbial inactivation. Alcohol gels are fast and convenient, but frequent use leads to dry/cracked skin that increases infection risk. Effectiveness varies with alcohol content & types; less effective than hand washing achieving < log 2 inactivation. Covid-19 has rendered supplies scarce due to greater demand and reduced production. Our proposed system uses activated water vapour to achieve sanitisation from tap water at point of need, generating water vapour entrained in a flowing air-stream. This air-water vapour stream is then ducted to a delivery manifold to 'fog' user's hands/wrists/forearms -- providing effective disinfection within 15 seconds.

The vast majority of sorting recycling facilities that handle plastics use Near Infrared (NIR: 750 -- 1700 nm wavelength) spectroscopy for automated detection of polymer type for effective sorting; this technique has been chosen and developed over the past twenty years as being the only cost effective and robust technique for sorting mixed post consumer wastes (compared to Mid / far IR, Raman, UV, XRay fluorescence etc). NIR spectroscopy is likely to remain the de facto standard identification technique for sorting, due to its ability to identify dirty and wet polymers, the equipment simplicity, speed and robustness, no need for sample preparation, and its low cost. However, the NIR technique fails when trying to identify black materials and other colours that contain carbon black. This is because the carbon black pigment absorbs the incident infrared beam and prevents the reflection of the polymer's characteristic spectrum used to identify and sort polymer types. This volume, in excess of 4 million tonnes (EU), has a potential annual value of over £4.4 billion (if recycled) and represents a significant waste of finite resources and lost value to the economy. This project will build on our work and experience to date in order to create a closed processing loop of NIR sortable black and coloured polymer which will enable NIR sorting operations to segregate black and coloured plastic for recycling where they have been unable to before, crucially - using existing infrastructure. It will also help to address one of the UK's Grand Challenges as set out in the new UK Industrial Strategy -- namely Clean Growth: "The move to cleaner economic growth -- through low carbon technologies and the efficient use of resources"

This project aims to develop a new process to extract valuable complete undenatured proteins from potato waste (whole stockfeed grade potatoes and peel), for use as high quality food grade vegan/vegetarian protein supplements, sport protein sources and as functional food processing ingredients. B-Hive Innovations Ltd are set to be first to market with this UK-sourced process and material. Our novel extraction process promises a step change in simplicity and cost effectiveness for handling complex waste compared to industrial chromatography, the only currently available technique. The project will build upon our existing proof-of-concept work and will solve the challenges we have identified in our initial scale-up investigations - dealing with variability of the complex input materials, eliminating the flow and membrane fouling problems, and optimising the balance between the two innovative modes at the extraction stage. The consortium members, who carried out parts ot the initial work, have come together to provide an integrated end-to-end group, with partners who own the waste problem, can scientifically progress the scale-up work, can build and operate at pilot scale, and who can take the final products and use them in New Product Developments.

Structural foam moulded parts have a cellular foamed core with a relatively solid skin outer, produced by a form of injection moulding using a chemical blowing agent or gas such as nitrogen, butane or carbon dioxide. However chemical blowing agents cause ozone depletion & will be phased out under the Montreal Protocol. Gases such as butane & pentane are an inherent fire risk, while N2 & CO2 are relatively expensive to use. In addition structural foam parts suffer from relatively poor surface finish especially when low injection pressure is used. Ours is an innovative new process to make structural foam moulded light-weight parts. It offers up to 40% weight saving, 40%+ cycle time reduction & 30%+ energy savings simultaneously. This project will build on existing international cooperation with key partners and potential users and ensure strong commercial relationships which will aid a successful development of the technology.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

Potato store efficiency and losses depend crucially on air flows to distribute treatments and to equilibrate temperature and moisture in the breathing crop, without excessive energy consumption and yield loss through dehydration. At least 60% of current stores are failing in this regard, leading to potential exceedances in CIPC - a crucial sprouting suppressant that might be withdrawn as a result - and also to energy and deydration losses. Our new system will develop scientifically based design tools, using detailed maps of air flow, heat/mass transfer and CIPC deposition within boxes and tuber surfacess, to help modify stores' air handling to meet legislative limits and improve resource efficiency. This industrially led project combines leading companies in potato store design and build, store energy and chemical control and potato handling & packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility and Cranfield Uni Aeronautics group. We aim to provide the tools and retrofit options to save the industry over £50M in losses from CIPC failures and improved energy and moisture management.

The EU polymer processing industry continues to contract, with companies struggling to remain competitive. Whilst energy cost reductions are welcomed, cycle time is a key driver of financial performance, with parts costed as a function of cycle time and machinery hourly rate. Our novel approach offers a new heating technology for injection moulding, using the through thickness, rapid heating capability that microwave energy provides, halving the heat input required to mould the polymer materials, achieving significant reductions in cycle times and overall energy consumption. Our goal is to establish a clear ‘Demonstrator Prototype’ for a new polymer process that will achieve a minimum 30% reduction in cycle time for injection moulding of thick-walled parts, and achieve a similar reduction in associated production costs & energy needs. This technology would enable UK moulders to increase productivity and competitiveness, regain market share and capitalise on new business opportunities. For example, the improved commercial viability of thicker section parts will enable developments in light-weighting & metal replacement

The UK and EU polymer processing industry continues to contract, with companies struggling to maintain market share against competition from low cost economies. Whilst energy cost reductions would be welcomed, cycle time and component thickness are key drivers of financial performance, with parts costed as a function of cycle time & machine hourly rate. The Ultramelt system will apply ultrasonic energy into the molten polymer just before it enters the cavity. This can yield as much as 60% temporary reduction in melt viscosity, enabling a significant reduction in melt temperature, saving both heating & cooling energy. The benefits of this are numerous. Melt temperatures could be maintained and the lower viscosity used to enable easier filling of existing parts or design of thinner-walled parts with corresponding reductions in cooling times. Alternatively, the melt temperature could be reduced significantly, while still being able to fill the same mould (due to the reduced viscosity). This technology could enable UK moulders to increase productivity and competitiveness, regain market share and capitalise on new business opportunities.

Soft rot, a bacterial infection of potato tubers, leads to large losses for the industry along the storage and supply chain in their efforts to supply high quality potatoes to the consumer. The current washing processes cannot guarantee the removal of the bacteria in some circumstances, and this project aims to develop a more effective cleaning system. The new system combines ozone treatment (an active form of oxygen that is an effective and low residue sanitiser; frequently used in drinking water treatment systems) with a innovative segregation and soft handling system that is designed to minimise damage to the potato skins and to transport ozonised water to the tuber surface where it wipes off soils and sanitises more effectively. This industrially led project combines some of the UK's leading companies in the fields of ozone treatment, polymer development, agricultural engineering and potato packing, with scientific support from the Potato Council's Sutton Bridge research facility. We aim to be able to reduce soft rot by 50%, which could save the UK industry up to £100 million in waste costs.

The UK is not self sufficient in apples, even during the high season, providing only one third of our own consumption, with the shortfall made up by imports. A large proportion of this is due to our inability to meet demand for class1 fruit – the stringent specification set by supermarkets, representing 80% of sales. Our client records show that similar orchards can have outputs that vary by over 60% on the same cultivars, both on the overall tonnage yield per hectare, and on the percentage of substandard fruit, with reject fruit going to waste or low value processing and losing up to 80% of its value. A significant proportion of this variation is down to management practice and crop forecasting. The market price is dependent on crop quality and the crop yield declared by the growers and wholesalers, and these estimates tend to be inaccurate with a variation of typically +/- 20% from final yield. This has a major impact on market price. Quotas are agreed with the supermarkets early in the season, and must be fulfilled. Over-estimating yield means purchasing imports (at late in season high prices) to cover the shortfall, while underestimating yield, means losing profits by selling excess crop to low value outlets or even for pigfeed. A key part of management practice is to know when and how to ‘thin’ crops to promote selective growth, and this is very dependent on knowing accurately how many apples there are on each tree at various times in the growing season. Our client who represents one third of UK growers, believes that by standardising bestpractice orchard management, and with a strategic approach to helping breed new cultivars, we could enable UK orchards to take back at least 100,000T of lost import volume, worth £50M. This project aims to create & prove the effectiveness of a novel vision based crop measurement technology for apple growers, capable of measuring apples while on the trees.

To measure ‘sustainable intensification’ we must compare crop yield (intensification) & gross margin (economic sustainability) with relevant, quantifiable environmental impact indicators (environmental sustainability). The main environmental indicators farmers should consider are Water Management/Pollution; Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Biodiversity. We propose to develop a system to assimilate, calculate & display this environmental impact data alongside yield, quality & fiscal performance data to create a valuable representation of farm physical, financial & environmental performance on a field by field basis. This feasibility study will look at the potential of utilising data already stored within GateKeeper (a farm data software tool) and several other data sources, combined with new farm scale data in a series of models, fused in a single software system we call SIAMS. These models will help the farm manager & agronomist identify & modify their agronomic inputs avoiding wasteful & potentially harmful applications. Subject to feasibility study results we will then need to develop the data fusion platform & possibly two systems for capturing & analysing localised flora & fauna data. This technology could position UK agriculture at the forefront of precision farming & sustainable intensification.

More efficient use of inputs including water, fertilisers and pesticides is vital to the future success of all UK agri-businesses. Although over-irrigation and high fertiliser inputs can lead to excessive vegetative growth, increased disease susceptibility, lower marketable yields, poor organoleptic quality and a short shelf-life, many growers are reluctant to reduce water (and fertiliser) inputs due to the lack of information, suitable management tools and crop monitoring systems. Scientifically-derived fertigation strategies have been developed at East Malling Research that improve resource use efficiency, increase marketable yields and fruit quality and reduce waste during production. Scaling-up this precision fertigation approach so that it can be implemented safely across many hectares of high-value substrate strawberries requires a step change in the detail of on-farm measurement data. The project consortium (BerryGardens Growers Ltd, East Malling Research, Delta-T Devices Ltd, Eden Irrigation Consultancy Ltd and the Technology Research Centre Ltd) will develop new technologies needed to implement, monitor and manage precision fertigation across many hectares of high value soft fruit production. Imaging tools to assess plant health, quantify crop quality and predict marketable yields will be developed and validated against conventional but intensive scientific measures of productivity in commercial strawberry varieties exposed to differing degrees of biotic and abiotic stresses. The benefits to the UK horticulture industry will be improved resource use efficiency, reduced pesticide use, improved yield predictions, extended shelf-life and reduced wastage in store and better fruit quality for consumers.

The UK is not self sufficient in apples, even during the high season, providing only one third of our own consumption, with the shortfall made up by imports. Our consortium, representing one third of UK growers, beieves that, by standardising best-practice orchard management, and with a strategic approach to helping breed new cultivars, we could gear up our orchards to take back at least 100,000T of lost import volume, worth £50M. This project develops a novel vision based crop measurement technology for apple growers, capable of measuring commercially relevant phenotype traits in the field and providing quantified data to help breeders accelerate their programmes for new elite cultivars. The detailed data captured by tree over the season and between seasons will be correlated with environmental factors and the apple genome. It will provide growers the opportunity to meet three important industry objectives: To better manage the quality and yield of their crops through a precision horticulture approach; to strategically increase cropping intensity via improved strategic orchard management knowledge; and to inform breeders of the desired routes for the accelerated development of new elite cultivars, providing quantified information on the commercially important traits at phenotype level. This new technology will allow the UK to lead the world in the precision management and development of pome crops, and help increase production capacity by up to 50% from the current acreage.

The EU polymer processing industry continues to contract, with companies struggling to remain competitive. Whilst energy cost reductions would be welcomed, cycle time and component thickness are key drivers of financial performance, with parts costed as a function of cycle time & machine hourly rate. Our idea is to apply ultrasonic energy into the molten polymer just before it enters the cavity. This can yield as much as 60% reduction in melt viscosity, enabling a significant reduction in equivalent melt temperature, thus saving both heating & cooling energy. Our goal is to establish a clear ‘proof of concept’ for a novel transducer/sonotrode/melt chamber design that eliminates the need for sealing, and thus eliminates the problems of molten polymer leakage & injection pressure drop. The benefits of this are numerous. Melt temperatures could be maintained and the lower viscosity used to enable easier filling of existing parts or design of thinner-walled parts with corresponding reductions in cooling times. Alternatively, the melt temperature could be reduced significantly, while still being able to fill the same mould (due to the reduced viscosity) but with significantly lower embodied heat the cooling time can be reduced substantially. This technology could enable UK moulders to increase productivity and competitiveness, regain market share and capitalise on new business opportunities. Existing parts can be cooled much quicker; have improved mechanical properties, and potentially lower internal stress and reduce tendency to warp. New design capability for thinner, higher aspect ratio parts would also be possible

The EU polymer processing industry continues to contract, with companies struggling to remain competitive. Whilst energy cost reductions would be welcomed, cycle time is a key driver of financial performance, with parts costed as a function of cycle time and a machinery hourly rate. Our concept offers a new heating technology, using the through thickness, rapid heating capability that microwave energy provides, halving the heat input required to mould the polymer materials, achieving significant reductions in cycle times and overall energy consumption. Our goal is to establish a clear ‘proof of concept’ for a new polymer process that will achieve a minimum 30% reduction in cycle time for injection moulding of thick-walled parts, and achieve a significant reduction in associated production costs & energy needs. This technology would enable UK moulders to increase productivity and competitiveness, regain market share and capitalise on new business opportunities. For example, the improved commercial viability of thicker section parts will enable developments in light-weighting & metal replacement.

Current recovery processes can differentiate between polymers, but are unable to differentiate mixed molecular weight grades of same polymer. These mixed grades are difficult to process without full re-compounding because they exhibit different melt & shear properties. We aim to develop an ultrasound assisted moulding process that enables direct use of mixed mol. wt. waste polymer flake, thus increasing cost-effectiveness in recycling & re-using these materials, while improving properties by reducing thermal degradation.