At Power Knot, product innovation does not start in a boardroom. It starts in the kitchens, factories, and facilities, and most important, with our customers. When operators encounter challenges, these problems are documented, discussed, and analyzed. When they ask for solutions, we build them.
Rice Mode, our latest software development for the LFC biodigester, is a clear example of how Power Knot continues to help our customers.
A Customer Challenge That Sparked an Industry Solution
Rice and pasta are staples in commercial kitchens around the world, from hotels and universities to convenience store commissaries and corporate dining halls. However, carbohydrates introduce a surprisingly common problem for food-waste biodigesters. They absorb water rapidly, expand in size, and temporarily increase in weight.
Inside a biodigester, this can cause the machine to appear overloaded even when it is not. As a result, digestion may slow or even pause operation for safety.
This challenge was first brought to our attention by Company N, a major public company that produces rice-based bento boxes for multiple convenience store chains in Japan. Their facilities generate large volumes of cooked rice, and excess or stale cooked rice is placed in the LFC biodigester for disposal. The operators encountered frequent LFC stoppages due to the expansion of the rice inside the biodigester.
Our partners, support team, and engineers acknowledged the issue and delivered a solution.
The result became Rice Mode, now used not only by Company N for rice, but also by Company K. Company K, another large public company in Japan, uses the feature for bread, pastries, frozen dough, and delicatessen foods that behave similarly by absorbing moisture and temporarily increasing in weight.
How Rice Mode Works
Rice Mode is a smart, temporary adjustment to how the LFC biodigester interprets weight when high-absorbency foods are added.
Adaptive Weight Thresholds
When activated, Rice Mode raises the weight threshold for a defined period of time. This gives the biodigester time to break down rice, pasta, dough, or similar foods while they release the water they previously absorbed.
Once digestion stabilizes, the unit automatically returns to its normal operating limits so that safety and reliability are always maintained.
Key Benefits for Operators
- Continuous operation: Prevents unnecessary stoppages when rice, pasta, dough, or similar foods swell temporarily.
- Configurable settings: Operators can adjust thresholds and timing through the touchscreen.
- Built-in safeguards: Alerts notify operators if limits are exceeded or if the condition persists longer than expected.
- Automatic re-engagement: Rice Mode can activate itself again after new food waste is added, allowing a hands-free workflow.
Full Cloud Transparency
Every activation, weight pattern, and system response is logged and visible in the LFC Cloud, allowing customers to track behavior and ensuring complete operational transparency.
A Feature Built With Customers, Not Just For Them
What makes Rice Mode unique is not only its technical sophistication but also the process that created it.
Power Knot’s engineering team collaborated directly with on-site operators, reviewed the performance data of the affected LFC biodigesters, and refined the feature through real-world testing.
Company N’s proactive approach and Company K’s later adoption helped shape Rice Mode into a robust solution for a wide range of high-absorbency foods.
This is how Power Knot works: customers tell us what they need, and we turn those needs into innovations that benefit the entire global user base.
Available Now: A New Standard for All LFC biodigesters
Rice Mode is now included as a standard feature on all new LFC biodigesters and can be enabled on existing systems through an easy software update.
With this feature, Power Knot continues to deliver on its promise of always putting the customer first.
Rice Mode is not simply a new feature. It is proof that strong partnerships with customers lead to practical, meaningful advancements in sustainable food waste management. Read more about Rice Mode here.