Project Title: Towards smart factories: sensorization and digitalization of the production plant for wastewater monitoring
Project Duration: 07/2023 – 07/2024
Project Description:
The current phase of manufacturing processes is characterized by a rapid transition to more agile, resilient, and sustainable smart factories. Greener production with lower energy consumption and reduced waste generation are targeted using smart connected systems continuously monitoring and optimizing plant resources in a context-related connection between factory and environment.
This collaborative research project between the Sensor System Technology (SST) Lab of UniBz and A. Loacker AG tackles exactly the topic of smart and digital technologies for sustainable manufacturing processes, specifically focusing on the in-situ monitoring of the wastewater generated during the production of whey and milk powder within one of Loacker’s lines (at Dolomites Milk). In this line, the currently employed analysis is based on water sampling and transportation to centralized laboratories. A real-time and on-site monitoring of relevant chemical, biological, and physical indicators of wastewater quality is clearly the key towards a more sustainable and cost-effective treatment and thus also an optimized preservation of freshwater resources.
At this aim, this project proposes to exploit the expertise in smart sensing technologies of the SST Lab for the development of an in-situ sensor network for wastewater quality monitoring within Dolomites Milk’s production line. Specifically, main project objectives are the identification of relevant wastewater quality markers, followed by the selection, and validation of the most appropriate sensors able to identify the most important sources of waste generation. This initiative is of particular importance not only to the Loacker Group, which will be able to implement a more sustainable and efficient production process thanks to the introduction of new interconnected methodologies and data-driven decisions, but it will also benefit South Tyrol in general by reducing the remote risk of pollutant release in the ecosystem due to wastewater treatment.
Principal Investigator: Prof. Luisa Petti
Project Collaborators: Dr. Petra Massoner, Head of Applied Research, A. Loacker Spa/AG
Contact people: Dr. Ahmed Rasheed, Dr. Enrico Avancini, Antonio Altana, Fabian Gottardi (from Dolomites Milk GmbH)