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

viscosity The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the inte ...

of fuel oil for the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and the production of

toluene Toluene (), also known as toluol (), is a substituted aromatic hydrocarbon. It is a colorless, water-insoluble liquid with the smell associated with paint thinners. It is a mono-substituted benzene derivative, consisting of a methyl group (CH3) a ...

. In the 1920s research took place into cracking, at the plant at

Uphall Uphall ( sco, Uphauch, gd, Ubhalaidh) is a village in West Lothian, Scotland. It is a swiftly growing village in a conurbation with Broxburn to the east, Dechmont to the west and the major town of Livingston to the south west. Uphall is 30 mil ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

( West Lothian). The first new building opened in July 1931. 76 staff were there in 1929, 99 in 1934 and 197 in 1939. By the 1950s, BP Research was in a 39-acre site in Sunbury.

Geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' some ...

research had also taken place at Kirklington Hall Research Station in

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

, until 1957. Around 1958, the site was expanded with a new Physics laboratory and five other buildings. A Linear electron accelerator was installed. By early 1958, Kirklington Hall had been sold. Products that the British Petroleum Company made in the 1950s were BP Motor Spirit and BP Energol (''visco-static'' motor oil). But Britain would not produce much oil of its own until the mid-1970s when

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea ...

arrived at the

Forties Oil Field The Forties Oil Field is the second largest oil field in the North Sea, after the Clair oil field, which is located 110 miles east of Aberdeen. It was discovered in 1970 and first produced oil in 1975 under ownership of British Petroleum, now ca ...

Construction

Three new buildings were built from 1998 as part of Phase 1. Since 2001, four new buildings were built as part of Phase 2.

Structure

It is situated off the A244 (via the A308) in the north of Sunbury-on-Thames, and Surrey, on the Surrey boundary with London. To the east nearby is Sunbury Common. The retail division of BP UK is at Witan Gate House. BP employs around 15,000 people in the UK. It has an enhanced oil recovery

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physic ...

.BP Magazine 2014 Issue 2
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References

* ''The History of the British Petroleum Company'', October 1982,

External links

ICBT Sunbury

New building
{{authority control 1917 establishments in England 1917 in technology BP buildings and structures Chemical industry in the United Kingdom Chemical research institutes Energy research institutes Engineering research institutes Laboratories in the United Kingdom Petroleum industry in the United Kingdom Petroleum organizations Physics laboratories Research institutes established in 1917 Research institutes in Surrey Sunbury-on-Thames

History

Construction

Structure

See also

References

External links