SPX FLOW, Inc, a leading provider of process solutions for the nutrition, health and industrial markets, has expanded its Innovation Center in Xidu, China to better serve customers in the Asia-Pacific region with a focus on the mixing process.

With its Lightnin products, SPX FLOW has pioneered many of the mixing techniques now considered standard for minerals recovery. From individual agitators for simple solids suspension applications; to the exacting demands of High Pressure Oxidative leaching and to the design of complex systems for counter-current solvent extraction. Its Uutechnic top entry and side entry agitators are designed and manufactured to meet process requirements for heavy-duty applications for industries such as mining.

The Xidu center specialises in testing and design to best meet clients’ mixing requirements, primarily in the fields of chemical processing, mining, water and waste treatment, pharmaceuticals and food and beverage. In addition, the expansion will provide more local, technical support for SPX FLOW’s mixing solutions brands, including Lightnin, Plenty, Philadelphia, Stelzer and Uutechnic.

“We pride ourselves on being solution makers, and this expanded facility will be a great space to innovate with our customers,” said Shuyuan Xu, SPX FLOW’s mixing technology and proposals lead in the Asia-Pacific. “This lab is exciting for our company and the region, and we look forward to the work we’ll do alongside our valued customers.”

The Innovation Center includes a 200-square-metre process and technology lab — more than triple the size of the previous lab space — and will focus on detailed research and design enterprises by SPX FLOW’s commercial and engineering teams. Those initiatives include process and technology demonstrations featuring industry-leading equipment for mixing tests, consisting of drives and test vessels, a complete range of test impellers, a particle size analyser and a viscometer.

SPX FLOW has ramped up its research and development budget by 40% since 2019, spurring a range of new products.

The expansion adds to SPX FLOW’s Innovation and Design Centers — state-of-the-art, collaborative spaces for customers to test, develop and perfect their critical mixing processes. SPX FLOW has more than 26 Innovation and Design Centers worldwide, which offer support from product specialists, process and production engineers, electricians and other specialists.