Monitoring System Could Save Lubricant, Food Industries Millions Each Year

BATON ROUGE – LSU researchers have invented an automated sensor that could drastically reduce waste for grease and food manufacturers, saving each U.S. industry millions of dollars a year.

“Making grease is a very complicated process, as much an art as a science. It’s not as simple as following a recipe,” said Koottaparambil Lijesh, co-inventor and a postdoctoral researcher in the LSU Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. “Grease exhibits the properties of a solid and a liquid. Grease is formed through complex chemical reactions where its consistency evolves over time. Slight variations in the factory temperature, raw material quality, when mixing in additives and adding ingredients can lead to differences in the final consistency – how thick or fluid the grease is – across batches.”

Manufacturers can liquefy grease that is too thick by adding oil, although that may compromise quality. However, grease that comes out thinner than expected is discarded or sold as a lower-grade product.

After each batch is completed, grease makers usually rely on sampling by skilled workers to ensure quality control. Some plant operators can tell if the grease has the correct consistency by how it looks or smells. But it takes decades to attain that level of expertise.

LSU’s patented technology eliminates uncertainty by continuously tracking grease properties through real-time assessment of accumulated entropy generation (AEG). AEG tracks the energy used in manufacturing – heating the base oils, thickeners and additives, blending the ingredients and cooling the grease. Energy is lost at every stage.

The LSU system uses AEG to predict the grease’s final consistency and tell workers when the manufacturing process is complete. If any deviation occurs, the software sends an alert so workers can make corrections. This guarantees the grease doesn’t have to be discarded or turned into a less valuable product.

Scrapping is a frequent and costly issue for grease makers. The United States produces around 383 million pounds of grease a year. Scrapping, which includes disposing of the waste in an environmentally safe way, adds around 40 cents per pound to manufacturers’ costs.

“LSU’s monitoring system could save the grease industry millions of dollars every year,” said LSU Mechanical Engineering Professor Michael Khonsari, co-inventor of the monitoring system. “It is also a very useful training tool for new workers to optimize their product consistency based on the sensor’s output.”

The market may be even larger for segments of the food industry, he added. The makers of mayonnaise, ketchup, yogurt and peanut butter, among others, must scrap large quantities of their production because of consistency issues.

Lijesh and Khonsari worked with the LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization (ITC) to patent their invention. They have also successfully field-tested their invention at a large grease manufacturer, so they know their system works at scale.

“We’re excited about helping Drs. Lijesh and Khonsari explore the commercial opportunities for this groundbreaking technology. It’s interesting how their technology crosses various industries involving emulsions,” said Mariel Liggin, LSU ITC commercialization officer.

About LSU’s Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization

LSU’s Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization (ITC) protects and commercializes LSU’s intellectual property. The office focuses on transferring early-stage inventions and works into the marketplace for the greater benefit of society. ITC also handles federal invention reporting, which allows LSU to receive hundreds of millions of dollars each year in federally funded research, and processes confidentiality agreements, material transfer agreements and other agreements related to intellectual property.

About the LSU Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development

LSU Innovation unites the university’s innovation and commercialization resources under one office, maximizing LSU's impact on the intellectual, economic and social development of Louisiana and beyond. LSU Innovation is focused on establishing, developing and growing technology-based startup companies. LSU Innovation oversees LSU Innovation Park, a 200-acre business incubator that fosters early-stage tech companies, and the Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization, which streamlines the process of evaluating, protecting and licensing intellectual property created by LSU researchers. LSU Innovation serves as the host organization for the Louisiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network, which oversees all SBDC services across the state as well as the LSU SBDC, which provides free consulting services to small businesses across the state. LSU Innovation helps Louisiana technology companies apply for seed funding through the federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grant programs. LSU Innovation educates faculty, students and the community on entrepreneurial principles through the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, which trains innovators to consider the market opportunities for pressing scientific questions, leading to increased funding from state and federal grant programs as well as industry partners and licensees.

 

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