Since our foundation in 1956, Research and Innovation have been our key driving force, along with the internationalization of our business. Throughout our history, we have leveraged and developed our twin screw technology and expertise in turnkey production lines to serve several industries, both food and non-food, and contribute to sustainable development.
Clextral Research and Development centers
Clextral’s three research centers in Firminy – France, Tampa in the United States and Melbourne Australia are dedicated to developing new products and improving processes.
Design, laboratory testing, prototyping, small batch processing, industrial simulation … can be performed independently and confidentially. The French R&D center, located at Clextral headquarters in Firminy, offers facilities for all food and non-food industries. The US center, located in Tampa (Florida), serves North and South American customers primarily in food areas. The R & D center in Australia, located near Melbourne, is dedicated to Extrusion Porosification Technology (EPT ™), a breakthrough powder manufacturing process.
Research and Development Equipment
Clextral provides dedicated laboratory and pilot equipment to carry out product design and processing tests. This equipment, which includes extruders, specific ancillary equipment and add-ons, is generally a scaled-down version of our industrial machinery. It is easily transportable and ‘plug & play’.
Co-development
Clextral works with its customers and public and private research centers on many co-development projects. These partnership R&D ventures are deployed in a wide range of food and non-food industries and cover many scientific and industrial disciplines: new chemical and food formulas, improved processing, innovative equipment design, new applications, etc. This collaboration can go as far as the joint development of exclusive products or shared patents.
EPT™ Extrusion Porosification Technology
Leveraging its EPT™ (Extrusion Porosification Technology), Clextral proposes original solutions to manufacture porous powders with enhanced functionalities, using less energy. This technology can be used for several food processing applications and for the manufacturing of innovative chemical and pharmaceutical products.
To allow its customers to assess the potential of this process, Clextral has designed and markets a pilot line with evaporative capacity of 30-50 kg/h of water. Clextral also proposes a full range of support services to help develop innovations.