Highlights and projects from the past year that were acknowledged as part of this award included:
- During 2024, PSR started development of it’s own electrically heated forehearth system to try to solve the problems that are inherent with other available solutions.
- Designing and installing innovative forehearths at Glass Futures has been a great project to demonstrate our expertise and unique capabilities, as a manufacturer of both glass conditioning machinery and forehearth refractories.
- Research project focused on “Reducing Carbon Emissions in Refractory Production for the Foundation Industries”. This project, funded by the Henry Royce Institute under their Industrial Collaboration Round 4 programme, was in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University, Ceramics UK, Glass Technology Services and British Glass.
- We are a member of Ceramic UK’s Hydrogen project consortia for Phase-2 trials, which is a £6million of UK Government funding to support further research into the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel for the UK ceramics sector. The two-year project will deliver the first-ever demonstrations of 100% hydrogen-firing technologies for the two main types of kilns (batch and continuous) used predominantly across the more than 150 manufacturing sites of the BCC’s 90 member companies.
- We are involved in EconoMISER, a UKRI-funded programme, with Lucideon and the AMRICC centre, alongside collaboration partner Reliable Insights, who are supporting PSR to drive further process optimisation in their manufacturing by increasing data collection and analytics. The key objective is to develop continuous process improvements via the targeted collection and analysis of time-series data. This will involve machine learning (ML) and AI enabled solutions.
- PSR were recently pleased to learn that their Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) application in the use of computer-based methods for optimal dense packing of complex ceramic shapes had been approved This project is planned to start in May 2025.
Ceramics UK said that they were most impressed by the work that PSR has done as an SME business.
This company never ceases to amaze the Ceramics UK team in the sheer number of forward-looking activities they’ve undertaken (and continue to do so) in:
- Projects to reduce the carbon footprint from manufacturing activities, particularly in energy self-generation & product adaptation.
- Their R&D focus, undertaking various activities, collaborating with a host of research bodies, universities, and other partners.
- Developing new ‘whole-system’ solutions, and innovative energy- and carbon-saving products for its downstream users, which for them is predominantly in glass production.