The Shell Technology Centre was a chemical and oil products research institute in northern Cheshire, near Stanlow, owned by Anglo-Dutch Shell.

History

World War II

The site was first set up by Shell for the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian m ...

as the Aero Engine Research Laboratory.

Vehicle engineering

It returned to Shell ownership in April 1947. The site had 70 scientists, and around 250 technicians working on quartz combustion tubes, direct fuel injection, butane fuel and the atomisation of fuel. The neighbouring

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt, asphalt ...

opened in 1949, although a smaller plant had been there since 1924. In the 1950s it was one of three main Shell research sites in the UK, the others being in Kent and Buckinghamshire. In 1962, Shell spent £25m on research, with 19 worldwide research centres, 8 in Europe, and 11 in the US. By the early 1960s Shell also had its Central Laboratories in Surrey (which opened in 1956), the Tunstall Laboratory, and Chemical Enzymology Laboratory at

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separ ...

in Kent Shell X-100 was Europe's top selling motor oil (lubrication). North Sea oil was produced from 1975.

Overseas research

In the mid 1970s Shell had around 5,000 worldwide research staff. In 1975 it closed two of its four British research sites, and one in Delft in the Netherlands. The Surrey research site closed with its 430 employees, with its work transferred work to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Cheshire with the centre's 850 employees. Before the closures, Shell had 2080 employees at British research centres. The main Dutch research sites were at Amsterdam (Royal Shell Laboratory Amsterdam) and Rijswijk.

Directors

From 1948 the Director was CG Williams. Sir

Morris Sugden Sir Theodore Morris Sugden FRS, (31 December 1919 – 3 January 1984) was a British chemist who specialised in combustion research. Biography Theodore Morris Sugden (Morris) was born in the village of Triangle, the only child of Florence (n ...

FRS was Director from 3 April 1967. GG Rose was Director from December 1975.

Closure

Shell closed its research centres in the UK in 2014, moving the research to Germany. Shell had sold the neighbouring oil refinery. 280 staff moved to London and Manchester, with 170 to northern Germany.

Research

The site was largely an automotive engineering research facility. Work was carried out on

direct fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All com ...

and butane-powered engines.

Lubricants

Its scientists researched lubrication with the Ubbelohde viscometer. In 1949 Britain's first diesel train, with an

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during t ...

engine, had Shell lubricating oil. Two-thirds of the lubricating oil made in UK was Shell, with Shell conducting £6m of research in 1949. The centre researched tyres, paint, textiles, and detergents. BEA airliners only had Shell lubricants. In the 1960s automotive companies from Europe would test automotive engines there.

Pollution

The site conducted work with British Leyland on pollution in the late 1960s, due to increasing legislation in the US, costing £100,000 a year, overlooked by Morris Sugden.''Times'' Friday November 14 1969, page 22 BP conducted similar research at its

Sunbury Research Centre The Sunbury Research Centre -- also known as ICBT Sunbury—is a main research institute of BP in north-east Surrey. History It began in 1917 as the Sunbury Research Station. Research began with the employment of two chemists to look into the ...

Formula 1 racing

The site researched fuel for the Ferrari F1 team ( Scuderia Ferrari).

Structure

The site is 66 acres. It was situated north of the M56, north-west of junction 14, at the Hapsford services (a Shell services), to the north of the A5117. It is directly east of the large oil refinery, south of the neighbouring

Hooton–Helsby line The Hooton–Helsby line is a railway line in the north-west of England that runs from Hooton on the Chester–Birkenhead line to the village and junction station at Helsby where it joins the Chester–Warrington line. History The line from ...

References

{{Cheshire Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Chemical industry in the United Kingdom Chemical research institutes Energy research institutes Engine technology Engineering research institutes History of the petroleum industry in the United Kingdom Laboratories in the United Kingdom Petroleum organizations Physics laboratories Research institutes in Cheshire Shell plc buildings and structures