The world seeks support in developing products, equipment and processes in areas ranging from edible oils and plant proteins, to renewable fuels, to specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and others. CPM’s Crown is at the forefront of innovation in these industries, helping companies develop, scale-up and commercialize products and processes to meet global needs sustainably.

In 2020, CPM opened the doors of its 15,000 square foot Crown Global Innovation Center (GIC), the only facility of its kind in the world. The GIC boasts comprehensive development, testing and scale-up capabilities, including a wide range of equipment and trained staff, for oilseeds and other feedstocks. Assets include technologies for preparing feedstocks for extraction, a variety of extraction technologies, options for solvent recovery and drying solids, a variety of distillation systems, and a state-of-the-art Liquids Pilot Plant.

The Liquids Pilot Plant is capable of pretreating feedstocks for renewable diesel/HVO and SAF, as well as continuously processing edible oils and oleochemicals. The GIC’s focus is providing a secure area with equipment and expertise to test, develop, scale-up and commercialize related equipment and processes. The facility was built with the mindset of “test what we build and build what we test,” and therefore provides data representative of commercial scale facilities.

The GIC is fully equipped to handle research, development and testing for any oilseed or other feedstock processing application. In addition to the Liquids Pilot Plant, the GIC includes:

• Preparation, an area including vertical seed conditioners, screeners, cracking, aspiration, flaking and pre-and full-press processes to accommodate testing and sampling of each process step;

• Extraction, which houses equipment with the flexibility to test/sample each process step with various percolation and immersion extractor systems. Extraction yields numerous products, including extracted oilseeds, white flakes, protein concentrate, crude hemp oil and biomass;

• Skunkworks, where the R&D team develops disruptive solutions to drive industry advancements and solve challenges along a 5-10 year horizon;
• Control Room, the operational hub with computerized control (PLC controls, with HMI integration) for process monitoring and data collection;
• Analytical Lab, which provides analysis for every step of the development process from raw material to finished product.

Through every innovation and processing intervention, CPM remains focused on sustainability. These efforts include optimizing processes to drive down resource consumption, finding ways to recycle waste products, and investigating new applications for CPM equipment in sustainability industries like textile recycling.

With over 750 installations in over 75 countries, CPM’s Crown has played a part in shaping history within the markets and regions they serve. As CPM continues helping companies meet the world’s food, fuel and resource needs, it will remain a global seat of innovation where clients can imagine and develop products and processes that will build a better tomorrow.