Francesco Negri (born 28/09/1997) is an Italian chemical engineer, Process Engineer at Itelyum Regeneration S.p.A. and PhD candidate at Politecnico di Milano, as a part of the SuPER Team supervised by Prof. Flavio Manenti. He obtained both his BSc and MSc in Chemical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano: his bachelor thesis concerned liquid sulphur degassing for a new unit in the Sarlux refinery, and his master thesis explored electrification in chemical plants via a techno-economic analysis of electrified hydrogen production. Since November 2022, he is the Process Engineer of Itelyum Regeneration plant in Pieve Fissiraga, Lodi, Italy.
He has since been working on economic and energy optimization of the used-oil regeneration process, the development of predictive-maintenance suites for process units (with related papers listed below), supervision of continuous emissions monitoring systems, and R&D for converting used cooking oil to biolubricants/biosolvents and for chemically recycling mixed plastic waste into API Group III base oil and hydrogen (with related patents listed below).
His portfolio also includes WEEE hydrometallurgical recycling for rare earth recovery, r-PET bottle-to-bottle chemical recycling, green hydrogen production via water electrolysis, biological wastewater treatment, sewage-sludge thermochemical treatment, and biogas upgrading to methanol and dimethyl-ether. His PhD project, “Automated Gaussian Process Forecasting for Predictive Maintenance: Industrial Fouling Monitoring and Decision Support,” tackles the limits of static, threshold-based condition monitoring in a used-oil refinery where feed composition continuously changes and unit revampings make each run different, often leading to sub-optimal maintenance timing.
The solution is an uncertainty-aware Gaussian-process forecasting suite that automates kernel selection with a grammar-base search, embeds physics through hybrid output warping to include fouling-related physical constraints, and improves model discovery with stronger heuristics compared to the greedy search state of the art (e.g., wider beam, limited discrepancy approach, and genetic algorithms).
Tested on pressure-drop profiles of the main vacuum distillation column affected by fouling, the tool reduces time spent in inefficient, severely fouled regimes and is now used for continuous monitoring, extending column run length by about 40% versus historical practice while preserving operational efficiency and keeping operation within its intended domain.
Relevant scientific publications:
- Negri, F., Galeazzi, A., Gallo, F., Manenti, F., 2025a. Reshaping Industrial Maintenance with Machine Learning: Fouling Control Using Optimized Gaussian Process Regression. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 64, 6633–6654. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.4c04550
- Negri, F., Galeazzi, A., Gallo, F., Manenti, F., 2025b. Enhancing Predictive Maintenance in Used Oil Re-Refining: a Hybrid Machine Learning Approach. Systems and Control Transactions 4, 1806–1811. https://doi.org/10.69997/sct.125404
- Negri, F., Galeazzi, A., Gallo, F., Manenti, F., 2024a. Application of a Predictive Maintenance Strategy Based on Machine Learning in a Used Oil Refinery. Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, ESCAPE/PSE. Elsevier, pp. 3175–3180. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-28824-1.50530-5
- Negri, F., Prifti, K., Caspani, S., Gallo, F., Manenti, F., 2024b. Dynamic Modeling and Validation of an Industrial Vacuum Thermodeasphalting Column for the Regeneration of Used Oil. Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, ESCAPE/PSE. Elsevier, pp. 1015–1020. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-28824-1.50170-8
Relevant patents:
- Gallo, F., Magnone, G., Negri, F., 2025a. Process for the Production of Bio-Oil Lubricants. EP4644511A1.
- Gallo, F., Magnone, G., Negri, F., Pelis, O., 2025b. Process for the Conversion of Plastic Wastes. EP4484524A1.
- Magnone, G., Negri, F., Di, S.M., Gallo, F., 2025a. Process of Transesterification of Oils Having Biological Origin. EP4663727A1.
- Magnone, G., Negri, F., Di, S.M., Vitiello, R., Taddeo, F., Gallo, F., 2025b. Process for the Production of Lubricants for Cosmetics. WO2025238501A1.
- Magnone, G., Negri, F., Gallo, F., 2025c. Process for the Regeneration of Fatty Waste. EP4663724A1.
- Magnone, G., Negri, F., Gallo, F., Di, S.M., 2025d. Process for Recovering a Biological Fraction from the Regeneration of Waste Oils. EP4671350A1.
- Magnone, G., Negri, F., Pelis, O., Quaglia, A., Roldi, A., Fugazza, G., Codognola, M., Gallo, F., 2025e. Process for the Production of Biolubricants from Waste Materials. EP4534635A1.
- Manenti, F., Negri, F., 2025. Processo Di Conversione Di Biogas. IT202300016332A1.
- Negri, F., Magnone, G., Gallo, F., 2025. Processo Di Produzione Di Biolubrificanti. IT202300020376A1.