Morton Laboratory
The Morton laboratory is unique: it brings together advanced instrumentation and production scale processing equipment to give a strategic advantage to academic research staff and their industrial partners. Refurbished and relaunched in 2003 at a cost of £6.7 Million, the Morton laboratory has a lot to offer academia and industry.
The Morton Laboratory Building contains a huge space available for research and CEAS is looking for projects to make use of its facilities and space - academics from any School in the University are encouraged to contact Professor Paul Sharratt to discuss possibilities for collaborative research. Industrial companies are also welcome to benefit from this facility - Unilever is currently carrying out research with the School in the Morton Laboratory.
The North end of the building takes the form of structural steel and grating floors. Process equipment can be installed just as it would in a real chemical plant. The area is treated as 39 zones, each with a full set of services ' data, power, steam, air and water. Six are within areas that are highly ventilated, allowing the use of flammable materials. All are designed to be 'plug-and-play' so that research staff can build a large rig in the workshop, move it in, and start it up with no fuss.
The South end of the building houses laboratory space, including one laboratory with high grade Heating and Ventilation for careful material characterisation. An extensive suite of instruments, each chosen for its practical contribution and mobility across projects, is available. These can be hooked up directly to the processing equipment installed as required by the science programme.
At the heart of the laboratory lies a high capacity data highway, so that experimental data, can be captured and managed in real time, and equipment and experiments controlled through easily understood graphics. The data are available on line to the research staff and their collaborators - wherever they may be in the world.
The Research is led by Academics with extensive industrial experience and current industrial partners. The Laboratory Technicians have built their skills over many years, adopting the latest techniques to understand the materials and processes being studied. The Research Staff have all chosen Manchester and the Morton Laboratory to drive their science forward.