Pneumatic Conveying

Alan Jackson: Director, Alan Jackson Engineering Services Ltd

Alan Jackson is the director of Alan Jackson Engineering Services Ltd, a, which provides clients with advisory services from conceptual design through to commissioning in the field of bulk handling

A member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers Process Industries Board and Chair of the Bulk Materials Handling Committee also the Chairman of the British Standards committee MHE/9 and a Past President of the MHEA.

He has worked globally on materials handling installations for various industries.

Allied to his technical and engineering knowledge also has vast global sales, contract and commercial experience in the bulk handling industry

Nitin Lad: R&D General Manager, Greenbank Advanced Instrumentation and Measurement

Neetin Lad earned a PhD in 2012 at the University of Leicester where he researched modelling and validation techniques for fluid-structure interactions with spraying, swirling, rotating and reacting flows which are typical of industry. This research generated six international Journal papers dissemination at 17 conferences. For the past five years he has been the R&D general manager at Greenbank Terotech Ltd where he has successfully improved combustion performance in coal fired plants across UK, Europe and Asia by improving fuel delivery to coal and biomass burners. He has been recently developing Discrete Element Modelling techniques to optimise bulk material transfer applications.

Richard Ellis: Chief Technical Officer, Schenck Process UK Ltd

Richard Ellis is the Chief Technical Officer of Schenck Process UK Ltd, and as a member of their Global R&D Board participates in setting long term technology strategies.
Over the last 25 years, his experience gained in the sales, engineering, commissioning and development of pneumatic conveying technologies has been varied, challenging and enjoyable. After joining the business as a graduate engineer from the University of Nottingham, opportunities to work in Germany, to become a Director of the Chinese subsidiary, and to develop solutions in most industry segments around the world including power generation, building materials, metals processing, chemicals and food have all provided for a range of fascinating projects; but have all led to one conclusion – materials handling is art as well as a science.

Trudy Beeley: Senior Solid Fuel & Materials Handling Engineer, RWE Generation UK

Trudy Beeley is Senior Solid Fuel and Materials Handling Engineer for RWE Generation UK plc. She has more than 20 years’ experience in fuel and combustion problem diagnosis, fuel preparation and handling, process safety and risk assessment and project evaluation.  She is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and holds a BEng (Hons) and PhD in Coal Combustion from Imperial College London. She led the design of the transfer system for Tilbury Power Station coal to biomass conversion project and current work includes upgrades to RWE biomass and coal plants to manage different fuels.

Richard Woosnam: Projects Manager, Fairport Engineering Ltd

Richard Woosnam is a professionally qualified Production Engineer whose career started with the ROF Patricroft. After completing his sandwich course, he joined an international process engineering company progressing through several career steps until he was seconded to Asia for 4 years to run one of their divisions. Returning to Europe, he joined Fairport in 2006 and has progressed through a variety of roles to being responsible for the cement and port sectors, having returned from a three year secondment to a major UK port.

Richard Farnish: Senior Consulting Engineer, Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology, Greenwich University

Richard Farnish joined the Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology in 1997 as a Research Fellow/Consultant Engineer. He has worked extensively on consultancy projects ranging from silo design, pneumatic conveying and segregation problems. In 2006 he received an MPhil for his work on ‘The effect of flow channel profiles on repeatability of discharge rates from dispensing heads used for flow control of particulate materials in bulk’. He is now continuing his studies towards a PhD. His research interests are in optimising packaging and tanker filling systems.

Benjamin Kotzur: PhD researcher, Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology, Greenwich University

Ben Kotzur completed his Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) (Scholars) at the University of Wollongong, Australia, in 2013. The final project of his degree was entitled: Investigation of Wear Testing and Simulation in Bulk Materials Applications. He then commenced his Doctorate in March 2014 at the Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology, University of Greenwich, specialising in predicting particle attrition during lean phase pneumatic conveying. Ben looks to develop a test method, which when used in conjunction with a particle breakage model, will be able to predict the attrition level expected for a given material within any lean-phase pneumatic conveying system. 

Andrew Cowell: Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering and Built Environment

Andrew Cowell has worked for the Centre for Industrial Bulk Solids Handling for the past fourteen years, and is now a Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering and Built Environment.
Andrew is a Chartered Engineer, and completed his part-time PhD on the subject of the modelling and measurement of impact forces in pneumatic conveying systems in May 2015.
Andrew has published more than 20 research articles, predominantly in his main research area of pneumatic conveying systems.  His current research interests are aligned to his PhD with a view to applying this information to the solution of wear and degradation problems in pneumatic conveying systems.

Ian Birkinshaw: General Secretary, Solids handlings and Processing Association

Ian started working in the field of bulk solids handling over 40 years ago with the Shepherd Group and transferred within the group to Portasilo initially starting as a Commissioning Engineer and held many roles within the business including Sales Manager and finally Operations Director. 
Ian retired from Portasilo in 2014 and took on the role of General Secretary of SHAPA where for more than 30 years, over 100 member companies have combined to be the UKs leading specialist association for the Solids handling and processing Industry.

Ian Hancock: Operations Manager, Bradley Pulverizer Company

Ian has 30 years experience in Engineering and is registered as an IEng Engineer in a  variety of disciplines including mechanical, electrical and instrumentation and is a member of the IMechE and IET  .
He now works for Bradley Pulverizer Company as Operations Manager managing projects from quote to commissioning as well as managing upgrades and modernisation of existing plants. Specialising in fine powders production and size classification for a wide range of industries from power generation, steel manufacturing and Fertilizer as well as specialised small scale milling of unusual materials.

Martin Gibson: Managing Consultant, Earthly Gains

Dr Martin Gibson helps companies to increase competitiveness through improved environmental performance. He was director of the UK Government's Envirowise resource efficiency programme for 10 years, working with companies from a range of sectors to demonstrate that good environmental practice was good for business. He has had leading roles using his sustainability expertise to help companies to understand and improve their performance and to drive innovation. He has helped suppliers to understand how to meet the sustainability needs of their customers. Martin has also been called on by governments to help guide their support for resource efficiency in business.