Kansas State University has opened the $3.5 million Bulk Solids Innovation Center in Salina for the study of the handling of commodities such as grains and recycled plastics.
The center, a two-story, 13,000-square-foot building, houses six laboratories for university and industry-sponsored research; rooms for conferences and lectures; a material properties test lab; and a full-scale bulk solids test bay.
It offers equipment and controls for the measurement of actual bulk solids behaviors including storage, conveying, gravity flow, blending, segregation, degradation, dust collection, safety and air-pollution control. A curriculum associated with the science and understanding of bulk solids is being created for engineering technology students. Along with classes, students will assist with research.
Before the center's opening in June, Todd Smith, GM of Coperion K-Tron Salina Inc., said the equipment manufacturer was looking forward to working with the university to solve handling challenges involving bulk solids. The company is one of two anchor occupants of the facility; the other is Vortex Corp., Salina, which makes slide gates and diverters to handle a number of bulk solids, including plastics.
