Food Engineering Extension Services

The Engineering Extension Program responds to the food industry's needs with a variety of cost-effective services, from research to development and technical consultation in the following areas:

Energy Reduction, Waste Minimization & Water Conservation
Reducing water usage, energy and food wastes can make operations more efficient while saving your facility money.
Services include:

• Reduction of water usage and wastewater costs based on an assessment of water usage practices for sanitation, clean-in-place (CIP) and floor wash-downs.
• Fuel/electricity savings through waste heat recovery and compressed air and steam leaks prevention, based on an assessment of energy usage practices for steam/condensate and compressed air systems.
• Water and wastewater loading costs reduction based on an assessment of residual food wastes for recovery and reuse.

Optimization of Food Processing Operations
Improving the operational efficiency positively impacts your facilities product yield and quality while reducing operating costs. Services include:

• Debottlenecking studies to help identify where process improvements are needed in order to increase plant capacity. Engineering outreach will investigate production issues such as ingredient batching scheduling and processing equipment capacity issues.
• Review new food processing technology to determine if it is appropriate for optimizing processes.

Food Processing Validation & Data Collection
Engineering outreach conducts on-site visits to gather data for investigating issues that cause inefficient in-plant operations and to validate processes. Examples of services include:

• Thermal food processing lethality studies to demonstrate compliance with food processing regulations/codes.
• On-site data gathering of processing parameters such as process temperatures, microbial counts, process water quality, and wastewater characteristics.

Conceptual Process Design & Product Development
Engineering outreach can assist in the planning of your new food processing facility. Examples of services include:

• Feasibility studies to identify viable food processing technologies.
• Equipment specifications and competitive equipment bid evaluations.
• Process design simulation and optimization of food processing systems.
• Process flow diagrams showing ingredient, product, and utility streams.
• Simple general arrangement diagrams showing equipment layout.
• Pilot plant testing to determine process parameters for full scale production.
• Evaluation of scale up issues in an unbiased setting
• Production of food products for use in consumer research, internal product reviews, test markets, demonstrations and trade shows
• Testing to determine the impact of an ingredient on a finished product

Equally important to what we do, is how we do it. Our pilot plant staff delivers all services in a price-competitive, timely manner with complete confidentiality.
We bring creativity and resourcefulness to every project,the type of “can do” attitude which fosters new product success.

Steven L. Stephens, Food Process Engineer
Steven received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to joining The Food Processing Center, he worked as an Engineering Consultant for the food and biofuel industries, where his focus included plant design, process optimization, and environmental permitting. His previous outreach experience includes assessing Nebraska businesses for pollution prevention opportunities with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Partners in Pollution Prevention Program. His current engineering outreach program at The FPC focuses on assisting food processors with product development, process optimization, and pollution prevention. To learn how the engineering outreach program can assist your food processing needs, contact Steven Stephens at (402) 472-2901, or by e-mail at sstephens2@unl.edu.