Currently up to 14% of the output of FMCG manufacturing lines is either reworked or scrapped

Rheality Ltd, an emerging spinout from the University of Birmingham, will be casting a webinar on its novel rheology measurement technology at an Institute of Chemical Engineers event on Tuesday 14th July. 

Rheality is developing the technology for the food & drink, chemical and FMCG manufacturing industries, to provide a cost-effective device that delivers continuous rheological inline measurement.

Currently liquid and paste production lines take samples at regular intervals during production, to ensure quality control of the final product.  Should the sample not have the desired properties, the batch needs to be either reworked or worst scrapped – and for example, in the FMCG sector, this is 14% on average of the output of these manufacturing lines. 

The technology from Rheality uses an acoustic sensor to ‘listen’ to the fluid in the pipe, and an AI intelligent machine learning algorithm (patent pending) to convert the signal into real-time measurements of rheological properties such as viscosity and flow rates. 

The fluid sensor system was co-invented by Dr Federico Alberini, who is an acknowledged expert in rheology measurement and liquid product formulation, and Daniel Hefft, who is post-graduate researcher at the University.  Both will speak at the event, giving a preview of how the technology works, its industrial applications, benefits and how it could revolutionise inline flow measurements. 

The webinar Listen to Your Process - a novel technology development in fluid flow characterisation is on Tuesday 14th July at 2.00pm BST (9:00 EDT / 15:00 CEST).  It is free to attend, and registration is available here.  

ENDS

For further media information contact Ruth Ashton, University of Birmingham Enterprise, email:  r.c.ashton@bham.ac.uk, phone: +44 7989 558 041.

About Rheality

Rheality Ltd is an emerging spinout from the University of Birmingham.  The company has developed an AI enabled technology to measure the rheology of fluids in real-time during production to reduce waste and increase productivity.

About University of Birmingham Enterprise

University of Birmingham Enterprise helps students and researchers turn their ideas into new services, products and enterprises that meet real-world needs.  We also support innovators and entrepreneurs with mentoring, advice, and training and manage the University’s Academic Consultancy Service.