Emerson Climate Technologies Inc. has applied to patent a simulation commercial ice machine model that it developed at the company’s Helix innovation center at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

“This project was a great example of our ideation model at work,” said Rajan Rajendran, a vice president of system innovation and sustainability for Emerson. “At the Helix we explore new approaches to industry challenges, test concepts and then create new models to solve them. In this case, our process helped us create a system model that will support future innovations in ice machine efficiency. The collaboration with the University of Dayton was important to our success and we are pleased to have filed our first patent from our work at The Helix.”

Emerson is working to meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s goal to reduce energy use in ice machines that produce 50 to 4,000 pounds per day by 10-15 percent by 2018.