Newcastle University

Project:

Minimising the Environmental Footprint of FMCG Plant Improved Cleaning Processes

From October 2006 to September 2010
Project Leader(s): Prof Elaine Martin
Staff: Prof Gary Montague
Contact: Prof Elaine Martin
Sponsors: DTI Zero Emissions
Partners: Birmingham University and Imperial College. Companies involved Unilever, Cadbury, GSK and Scottish and Newcastle, Bruker, Alfa Lavel, GEA and Ecolab.

The project seeks to reduce effluent through improvements in cleaning procedures and better design of manufacturing strategies and facilities.  Four research objectives are the focus of the project. First to develop and validate model-based design tools incorporating the key physical properties and phenomena connected with cleaning, Current design principles are poorly founded; the complexity and range of soil types ensures that cleaning performance is rarely predictable and particularly difficult to scale-up. Secondly, the development of reliable methods for the on-line, real-time measurement of “clean.” Thirdly, extend existing statistical techniques to optimise cleaning and guarantee the cleanliness of the whole plant. Finally, the quantification of the commercial benefits arising from the new technological approaches to the design, measurement, modelling and control of cleaning in FMCG plant.