KROHNE presented with prestigious Queen's Award for innovation

Flow and level measurement specialist KROHNE Ltd has been presented with the coveted Queen?s Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2005, an honour which recognises the company?s achievements in developing its technically advanced OPTIMASS Coriolis mass flowmeter.


The Queens? Award was presented to KROHNE at an event held for staff and guests at its UK headquarters in Wellingborough.  The presentation was made to KROHNE?s managing director, Trevor Fawcett and Dr Yousif Hussain, KROHNE?s technical director, by Lady Juliet Townsend, the Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire.

At the event Eddie Bridges, KROHNE?s global product group manager for mass flow, explained that the OPTIMASS has achieved worldwide success since its launch in 2002.  ?The OPTIMASS is being used across a diverse range of industries around the world and is now recognised widely for its accuracy of measurement.

?The fact that the instrument has been granted custody transfer accreditation is testament to its ability to perform to the highest level of accuracy and reliability.?

Lady Juliet remarked that one characteristic that stood out from companies she had visited in the past that had won Queen?s Awards was the strong feeling of team spirit.  ?This is particularly apparent at KROHNE,? she said.

?I am delighted to have been presented with the Queen?s Award,? said Trevor Fawcett, managing director of KROHNE Ltd.  ?It recognises the immense skill and capability staff at KROHNE has in designing and manufacturing world class products.

?It positions us as one of the top performing businesses in the UK.?

Production at KROHNE?s state-of-the-art manufacturing and test facility has more than doubled to cope with increased global demand for the product and a number of new jobs have been created.  The company now exports nearly 90 per cent of the OPTIMASS instruments it manufactures to industries as diverse as food, pharmaceutical, chemical, oil and gas, steel and mining.

KROHNE developed the world?s first Coriolis mass flowmeter with a single, straight-tube design.  The OPTIMASS incorporated this innovative development.  The instrument overcomes many of the constraints traditionally associated with Coriolis flowmeters and has proved highly successful across a broad range of applications.

Previously flowmeters using Coriolis technology had convoluted tube designs that restricted the flow of materials passing through the instrument.  This could lead to production downtime caused by fouling or blockages.  These designs were also much less durable because particles would strike the wall of the tube as they travelled around bends and therefore accelerate wear.

KROHNE?s OPTIMASS overcomes all these traditional problems.  Its straight-tube design will not restrict the flow of materials passing through it and particles pass directly through the tube without colliding with the walls.  The result is much improved performance and reliability and an instrument which can be used for high and low viscosity applications.

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