| Winnington Laboratory | |
|---|---|
ICI Winnington | |
 Former ICI works in November 2005 | |
  Location within Cheshire | |
| Former names | ICI Research Laboratory |
| Alternative names | Alkali Division Research Laboratories [1] |
| General information | |
| Type | Chemical Research Centre |
| Address | Winnington, Cheshire, CW8 4DU |
| Coordinates | 53°16′07″N2°31′58″W / 53.2687°N 2.5327°W |
| Elevation | 30 m (98 ft) |
| Client | ICI |
| Owner | ICI |
The Winnington Laboratory was a former chemical laboratory at Winnington, near Northwich, in Cheshire, England.
The Winnington Works were built in 1874.
The laboratory was set up by the ICI Alkali Division of Imperial Chemical Industries. The chemist Francis Arthur Freeth arrived in 1907, and became head of the laboratory. [2] ICI was formed in 1926.
On 24 March 1933 [3] two scientists conducted an experiment that produced polythene (polyethylene). Benzaldehyde was reacted with ethene (ethylene) at 2,000 atmospheres pressure. Sir Michael Perrin worked with this group of scientists from October 1933 until 1938. [4] In December 1935 he conducted an experiment that allowed polythene to be created. Polythene is the world's most widespread plastic.
In 1958, manufacture of polythene was moved to ICI's plant in Hertfordshire (ICI Plastics).
The laboratory was off the A533 next to the River Weaver and south of Barnton, Cheshire. The nearby chemical works makes soda ash (sodium carbonate). 280 staff worked at the laboratory.
Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was a constituent of the FT 30 and later the FTSE 100 indices.
The chemical industry comprises the companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into commodity chemicals for industrial and consumer products. It includes industries for petrochemicals such as polymers for plastics and synthetic fibers; inorganic chemicals such as acids and alkalis; agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; and other categories such as industrial gases, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bottles, etc.). As of 2017, over 100 million tonnes of polyethylene resins are being produced annually, accounting for 34% of the total plastics market.
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Teesside is a built-up area around the River Tees in North East England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The area contains the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham, Redcar, Thornaby-on-Tees, and Ingleby Barwick. Teesside's economy was once dominated by heavy manufacturing until deindustrialisation in the latter half of the 20th century. Chemical production continues to contribute significantly to Teesside's economy.
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Winnington is a small, mainly residential area of the town of Northwich, in the Cheshire West and Chester district, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England.
Tata Chemicals Europe is a UK-based chemicals company that is a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals Limited, itself a part of the India-based Tata Group. Its principal products are soda ash, sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride and associated alkaline chemicals.
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Sir Wallace Alan Akers was a British chemist and industrialist. Beginning his academic career at Oxford he specialized in physical chemistry. During the Second World War, he was the director of the Tube Alloys project, a clandestine programme aiming to research and develop British atomic weapons capabilities, from 1941 to 1945. After the war he was director of research at Imperial Chemical Industries. He also served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and the committee that drew up the organisation of what became the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. He died in 1954 at the age of 66.
Wilton International is a multi-occupancy industrial area between Eston and Redcar, North Yorkshire, England. Originally a chemical plant, it has businesses in a variety of fields including energy generation, plastic recycling and process research. It is named after a village to the south of the area.
The Statue of Ludwig Mond stands outside the entrance to Mond House in Brunner Mond Works, Winnington, Cheshire, England. Ludwig Mond was born in Germany but spent most of his working life in England. He moved to England in 1862 and joined the business of John Hutchinson in Widnes. Wishing to develop a better process for the production of alkali than the Leblanc process, he joined in partnership with John Brunner, who also worked for Hutchinson, to improve the ammonia-soda process, building a factory for this purpose at Winnington. In time the factory became the largest producer of soda in the world. Mond went on to work with other chemical processes, especially those involving nickel. He also became an art collector, bequeathing much of his collection to the nation. His statue was designed by Édouard Lantéri, and was unveiled by Brunner in 1913. It was moved in 1995 to stand next to the statue of Brunner in front of the offices of Brunner Mond in Winnington. The statue is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
Francis Arthur Freeth was a British industrial chemist. He spent much of his career at Brunner Mond and its successor Imperial Chemical Industries, as chief chemist, research manager and in a recruiting capacity, with particular knowledge of phase rule chemistry, and developed many processes related to the manufacture of explosives. He made a critical contribution to the British World War I effort by devising new ways to manufacture ammonium nitrate, which was recognised with an honour, and a smaller contribution in World War II for the Special Operations Executive. Freeth created links between Brunner Mond and Dutch chemistry, particularly at the University of Leiden where he met Kammerlingh Onnes and was awarded a doctorate.
The British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the main trade body for the plastics industry in the UK.
The chemical industry in the United Kingdom is one of the UK's main manufacturing industries. At one time, the UK's chemical industry was a world leader. The industry has also been environmentally damaging, and includes radioactive nuclear industries.
The Shell Technology Centre was a chemical and oil products research institute in northern Cheshire, near Stanlow, owned by Anglo-Dutch Shell.
The Widnes Laboratory was a research institute in northern Cheshire, run by Imperial Chemical Industries.
