Rosin Engineering

Mr Sebastian Rosin

Sebastian Rosin started Rosin Engineering Company Limited in September 1959 to exploit his father's invention of the pneumatic dryer, which Dr P.O. Rosin had invented in 1929. The company would also commercialise Seb's own invention of a novel 'drop forming' process for molten chemicals.

A pneumatic dryer in its simplest form is a drying system where a wet granule powder or slurry is dispersed into a stream of hot gases for very rapid drying. The dried product is then separated from the air stream by various devices.

In 1963 'REC' received its first order for a large coal drying installation handling thirty tons of coal per hour from the National Coal Board. That 'turnkey' installation, including foundations and building, was the first of many such orders from the NCB.

A view inside the Rosin pilot plant and testing facilities. Data gained from the plant enabled the company to put forward the best design for the drier related to the most economical operating conditions.

Though London remained the base for the technical sales and head office for the company REC opened a design office in Birmingham in 1964.

Up until 1966 all equipment was designed in-house and subcontracted to local manufacturers. REC then purchased a two-acre factory site in Stourbridge 12 miles to the west of Birmingham. The single fabrication shop served an immediate purpose which was to fabricate two large fluid bed coolers in aluminium for ICI to cool ammonium nitrate fertilizer. REC expanded the Stourbridge works over the years, and built an office block which became needed as the company grew, enabling the transfer of the Birmingham offices. From then on all REC equipment was manufactured in house.

By the 1970s the company had established itself as the No.1 supplier of coal driers to the NCB. REC had also developed a two-stage pneumatic system to pre-heat coking coal for coke ovens to 220°C degrees. As coke is an essential ingredient of steelmaking these plants were sold to British Steel and to ISCOR in South Africa. A two tons per hour pilot plant was initially supplied to the British Coke Research Association. The ISCOR order, through the Simon Carves engineering contractor, was for two plants each having a capacity of 80 tons per hour - a daunting prospect.

A thermal dryer installed at Manvers central coal preparation plant to serve four collieries.

It was also in the late sixties, and in the seventies, that the company started to realise its potential in the food industry - specifically in the production of starch from maize/corn, wheat, barley and potatoes.

A selection of thermal processing systems. Some of the largest drying and cooling systems ever installed were manufactured by Rosin Engineers.

Starch and many of its by-products, like residual fibre and gluten (protein), need to be dried, mostly in pneumatic dryers.

Meanwhile REC also developed a large range of fluid bed processors and fluid bed polyester chip crystallisers and column dryers.

A combined hoverbed drier and cooler.

A drying plant for smokeless fuel for Kersley Colliery.

Polyester chips have to be dried to a phenomenal degree of dryness - 30 parts per million -so that they can be spun into fine filaments.

Several hundred of these units were sold world wide: at least a hundred in China alone.

In 1980 what would become the company's 'Atritor' division was acquired from the Receiver of Alfred Herbert in Coventry. Atritor Limited had offices, a machine shop and foundry in Coventry. The number of employees in the group jumped from 100 to 150. Atritor manufactures a range of dryer pulverisers, mills and micronisers.

Three years later a client who had several of the company's dryers gave it a first order for a Wheat Gluten Ring Dryer. REC designed a novel and revolutionary feed mechanism in the form of a 'fish tail' for injecting the wheat gluten, which is like wet chewing gum, as a thin film into the dryer. Dried wheat gluten is used to enhance the protein content of flour for the baking industry.

That installation was such a success that numerous orders followed from all over the world, including Australia and America.

REC was already manufacturing rotary drum dryers and coolers, but this line of equipment was given a considerable boost in February 1987 when Barrie Mathews joined the company. Barrie came from Newell Dunford Ltd and was a leading expert in the design of this type of equipment. To this day, Barrie continues to lead the company's Rotary Dryer activities.

In 1990 Rosin Americas Limited was formed with an office in Montreal to serve the American and Canadian markets.

The company was honoured in 1994 to receive the Queen's Award for Export Achievements.

A proud day for Rosin Engineering as staff and the Mayor gather for the presentation of the Queen's Award for Export Achievement in 1994.

As a result of such worldwide trading it became obvious to the shareholders that the best future for the company and its employees was with an internationally strong company in a similar line of business. Such a partner was the Danish firm Niro, part of the GEA group. In September 1994 Niro purchased REC and its land and factory at Stourbridge, but did not acquire Atritor Limited.

Sebastian Rosin receiving the Queen's Award, pictured top right.

Rosin Engineering's former Lye (Stourbridge) workshop and offices.

« Dried and Tested

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An article from a history book Slough, Maidenhead and Windsor Memories. Publisher: True North Books Ltd.