August 2003

Two North Yorkshire firms have combined their leading edge technological and engineering expertise to develop machinery that will radically improve the working lives of coffee growers on a remote co-operative in Costa Rica.

Laser engineering and design firm Malton Laser has completed the construction of the key components of a huge two-stage combustion-powered waste burner, which will be used by farmers on the co-operative to burn coffee bean husks instead of rainforest wood. The heat generated by the five-metre wide, six-metre high SGB 500 burner will then be re- used by farmers on the Llano Bonito co-operative to dry coffee beans during the production process.

Malton Laser Ltd, based on the Pyramid Industrial Estate in Malton, produced the £20,000 steel framework and components of the giant waste-burner for near-neighbours Bioflame Ltd. Based in nearby Pickering, Bioflame produce a range of environmentally-sound waste burning and gasifying equipment for use in Central and South America and other international locations. The $100,000 SGB 500 is one of Bioflame’s largest products.

The latest unit, shipped to Costa Rica earlier this week, benefited from a radical redesign thanks to cutting-edge technology employed by Malton Laser. Malton Laser designer Andrew Hildred says:

“Bioflame have been making these units for a number of years now but their construction engineers have always had to struggle with poorly fitting component parts, a lack of accurate, legible drawings and masses of on-site welding!”

Andrew and the Malton Laser team used top-of-the-range 3D modelling software, closely integrated with the firm’s two lasers and sheet metal processing equipment, to totally redesign the combustion system. Laser-guided production allowed the firm to supply precisely-finished components which could then be bolted together on site, minimising welding requirements and eliminating the risk of misalignments. Malton Laser’s high-end modelling software also allowed

Bioflame engineers to view a full three-dimensional graphic of unit before construction began.
Andrew adds:

“When you are transporting units half way around the globe, parts not aligning correctly is not simply an inconvenience, it’s a disaster! Bioflame now expect to considerably reduce the construction time of future units and less time to build means more capacity for new orders!”

Bioflame Chief Executive Victor Buchanan predicts a rush of repeat orders once the first coffee husk burner has proved its value to the Costa Rican farmers.

He says:

“Once this bit of kit reaches our customers in Costa Rica it will be a catalyst for further orders. At the moment many farmers are holding back, waiting to see what this machine will do before purchasing – we’ve no doubt they’ll be a rush of orders next year. There could £500,000 worth of business for Malton Laser over the next three years.”

He adds:

“We’ve found a company in Malton Laser which is not only extremely convenient geographically but who are up to speed with what we are doing and who have got there quickly. They have been willing to make an investment of their own time in a project they clearly believe in and their expertise and technology has allowed us access to the kind of work five miles away that we previously would have had to go abroad for.”

Notes to editors:

Malton Laser, founded by Charles Corner in 2000, now employs 24 staff across an 11,000sq ft site on the Pyramid Industrial in Malton and has just recorded its first £1 million annual turnover.

Bioflame, based in Yorkshire and the North of England, designs and engineers a range of burners and gasifiers which consume waste products without producing pollutants or dioxins. The resulting energy can be used in many ways. Bioflame equipment is already working for customers around the world. In South America plants engineered by Bioflame are providing an efficient end to waste.