Case Study - Liquid Integrity Systems

The Factory of the Future at Flinders University, located in the Tonsley Innovation District in South Australia, is actively collaborating with innovative startups to advance manufacturing technologies, including in the marine automation and environmental monitoring space.

One particularly relevant startup is Liquid Integrity Systems (LIS), a South Australian company that specialises in electronic leak detection for liquid storage facilities such as HDPE tailings dams, clay-lined treatment lagoons, and brine ponds. Their technology uses automated floating platforms equipped with custom geophysical sensors and software to detect leaks with extreme sensitivity, up to 200 times more sensitive than conventional methods. This system avoids the need to drain facilities or send divers, and can operate in hyper-saline brine and acidic or alkaline ponds. 

In partnership with the Centre for Defence Engineering Research and Training, this Factory of the Future project will develop an unmanned surface vessel design, that can autonomously map the environment and provide precise GPS mapping of leak locations, making it highly effective for environmental protection and operational efficiency.  The unmanned surface vessel design will be replicated in quantity to allow LIS to satisfy its growing list of customers. 

Researchers:

• Professor Karl Sammut
• Dr Jonathan Wheare