Indo-Pacific 2023: Nivalis in Australia

Firstly, what a great country, I wish I had more time to enjoy the unbelievable scenery and hospitality of Australia. However, this visit was all about furthering the visibility of Nivalis and spreading the word about Ice Pigging to an audience who are maybe unfamiliar with our technology.

In hindsight the Nivalis visit to Australia is a perfect demonstration of how transferrable Ice Pigging is, as I look back on pharmaceutical discussions, visits to pet food manufacturing plants, and talks on a variety of topics from mangoes and fruit juice to fuel systems of naval ships!

Clearly the common theme is pipework - systems and processes - though the applications are very different. Sometimes Ice Pigging is needed to clean. This sounds obvious but the cleaning could be tar and oil debris from fuel transfer lines when ships are refilled while at sea. Or it could be cleaning the meat, fats and oils in a pet food facility.

Anecdote alert - I visited a pet food manufacturer in southern New South Wales where, though the facilities were impressive, I feel I should have been warned that operations occasionally result in "splashing" of product. Luckily I was wearing a mask!

Other Ice Pigging applications are focused on product recovery. In food, personal care and other FMCG production, no one wants to waste products that have just been manufactured. This is where Ice Pigging comes into its own.

If water is used to flush pipelines between product changeovers, any residual product is lost and washed away. Using Ice Pigging massively reduces this waste. Instead of flushing, sometimes for hours, Ice Pigging is a short, simple operation that uses ice slush, takes only a minute, recovers product effectively and saves lots and lots of water!

But back to the Australia visit...

Week one mainly comprised of visits to potential customers on which I was accompanied by Adam Prescott who has lived in Australia for 12 years since emigrating from Yorkshire. Adam has a process and chemical engineering background and now represents Nivalis in Australia.

Our visits and meetings went pretty much according to plan (only one missed flight!), the business leaders we met were knowledgeable and helpful and we are already planning how to ship one of our Nivalis containerised Ice Pigging systems to Melbourne. Lots of exciting opportunities which we will talk about more in the coming months.

Week two was very much about Indo Pacific (Indo Pac). This defence focused event was held in the fantastic location of Darling Harbour, Sydney. Organised and coordinated by the Department of Security and Exports (DSE), this huge event saw maritime, defence companies and equipment suppliers gathered in various conferences to discuss how the Indo Pacific region will be protected, ensuring regional security.

Importantly it was also a meeting of minds to discuss how the maritime sector can help and support protection of the environment and scientific expeditions.

I met so many new people and businesses and it was a brilliant opportunity for Adam and I to explain what Ice Pigging is and how it could potentially benefit their businesses, making their processes more efficient and effective.

Overall it was a very positive experience. I think many people we spoke to were surprised at the number of sectors Nivalis Ice Pigging support - from shampoo to submarines! Ice Pigging is a transferrable process, from meats in pet food factories, to non-visible biofilm in water loops - we use this amazing technology to help our customers save water, chemicals, product and most importantly, time!

It was a pleasure to take part in this excellent event - a huge thanks to Adam, and the DSE team for all their support - and I look forward to Nivalis's continued adventure down under!

(P.S. on completion of the two weeks I had a few days in the Blue Mountains - couldn't resist sharing a few holiday pics from this stunning place.)