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Smart NIR Olive Oil Extraction Control and Measurement System

Project description

Smart in-line monitoring of olive oil

Olive oil grade is based on the results of chemical and organoleptic examinations, and the process is regulated by the European Commission and the International Olive Council. The best quality is obtained when the extraction involves only mechanical actions without any use of chemical solvents during the separation process. However, current solutions for ensuring highest overall extraction process efficiency and olive oil quality are off-line, time-consuming and costly. In this context, the EU-funded Almazara 4.0 project will develop a smart, remote-controlled in-line monitoring solution capable of producing rapid adjustments of the different production steps. The overall aim is to provide production managers with sufficient time to make modifications to the process, thus ensuring optimal results.

Objective

Olive oil’s nutritional and healthy qualities have positioned it as one of the fastest growing segments of the global food industry and its quality is regulated by EC and the International Olive Council based on different chemical and organoleptic markers. Thus in order to obtain the best quality during the extraction process, only mechanical actions are applied with no use of chemical solvents during the separation process, reducing the yield of the process which lowers significantly the margins for producers. Current solutions for ensuring highest overall extraction process efficiency and oil quality are off-line, time consuming and costly. Thus, there is a strong need for an in-line monitoring solution capable to produce rapid adjustments of the different production steps. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has emerged as a rapid and non- invasive tool for such purposes. Nevertheless, commercialized NIR technologies fail to integrate a control solution of the extraction process efficiency.
Almazara 4.0 is the first smart NIR system able to improve the efficiency of the extraction process by 35% in average, saving around €60k/olive mill per campaign. We have demonstrated through laboratory tests  that our intelligent sensor can regulate the operation of the centrifuge decanter to achieve the maximum extraction of olive oil, while monitoring in-line the olive oil quality (free acidity and oxidation state) and its healthy organoleptic markers (phenolic content). This will save the mill’s operators considerable time and money while providing them valuable information about quality and healthy content in their olive oil production at any given time. In this regard, we deliver a ground-breaking product supporting “resource-efficient and cost-effective solutions to secure sufficient supplies of safe, healthy and high quality food” towards meeting “Sustainable and competitive agri-food sector for a safe and healthy diet” societal challenge addressed by Horizon 2020.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

INTEGRATION SENSORIAL Y ROBOTICA SL
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 50 000,00
Address
VIRGEN DE LA CABEZA 2
23000 JAEN
Spain

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Sur Andalucía Jaén
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 71 429,00
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