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North East outfit takes milling technology stateside

A North East design and engineering firm have found success in the US with their milling technology.

International Innovative Technologies (IIT) has secured nearly £1m of orders in the first half of the year, and has seen international success with orders across the US, India and Portugal.

The Team Valley-based company’s patented milling machines can grind hard, bulk raw materials into fine powder, including glass, minerals and hard abrasive materials.

The international orders follow a series of successful deals with UK companies including the provision of special chemical equipment to a firm in Lincolnshire, and a deal with the University of Leeds.

George Ord, MD at IIT, commented on the work he started with the Chairman of the company, Tom Wilkinson.

He said: “Tom and I have worked together for years and we decided that we wanted to start a new project that would exploit a niche in the market, but also had environmental benefits to industry.

“We had this idea for a fuel enrichment product, but to take this further we had a need to mill a very hard raw material down to a fine powder.

“We had a look at what was available and none seemed sustainable, so we just thought we’ll build one ourselves.

“Along the way we have been able to develop and patent the new technology, and while the fuel enrichment programme remains very much a live project, there is now significant international interest in the grinding mill, as these latest orders demonstrate.”

In the North East, a Gateshead plant has been installed which specialises in coal combustion. IIT tests different combustion conditions in this facility to show the positive effects of their fuel enrichment technology, which will be introduced into a live UK power station this year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .