'FLAME-THROWER' DESIGN WINS INNOVATION AWARD

Posted 16 October 2002

COLLABORATION between the worlds of education and industry to design the heat shield for a tractor-mounted flame-thrower has won one of the Lord Stafford Awards for innovation.

Harper Adams University College, near Newport, Shropshire, and Green Dragon Flaming Ltd, of Ross on Wye, Hereford, were awarded second place in the Development in Innovation awards last week.

Green Dragon Flaming produce a range of equipment for crop desiccation and worked with the Engineering Department at Harper Adams to develop a heat shield for a tractor mounted flaming device.

The flamer comprises a propane tank and a bank of burners covered by a protective heat shield. Initial designs for the heat shield buckled and discoloured and insulating material degraded under the extreme temperatures generated.

Green Dragon needed help to improve the performance and reduce the weight of the heat shield. They got in touch with the Harper Adams 'Engineering Department through CONTACT, which promotes collaboration between industry and the 12 universities in the West Midlands, and Business Link.

Harper Adams' award-winning solution came in the form of materials originally developed for the aerospace and furnace industries, where they were used to insulate equipment and protect people working with high temperatures and naked flames.

The result is an effective heat shield for the unit and an overall reduction in weight that has allowed Green Dragon to sell the unit for use on a smaller tractor.

Eric Howell, Head of Business Services at Harper Adams University College, was quick to praise the institution's engineers, for their creative solution to Green Dragon's problem, and the CONTACT initiative, which bought the two together. He said: "This is a great result in our first year of entry."

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Caption: Stuart Goodison, Managing Director of Green Dragon Flaming Ltd (Centre), accepts the award on behalf of Green Dragon and Harper Adams from Joanne Malin, of Carlton TV (Left), and Lord Stafford.