Recycling of metallic waste from manufacturing, AI to measure poverty, and carbon dioxide capture are the subjects for some of the Chalmers projects featured in the annual 100-list from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). Nine of the total of 79 projects on the list originates from research at Chalmers.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (IVA) presents this year's 100 list of research projects that are deemed to have great potential to benefit through commercialisation, business and method development or social impact. This year's list brings together innovations that focus on technology in the service of humanity in climate change, energy supply, welfare technology, cyber security and crisis preparedness. Nine of the 79 listed projects originate from research at Chalmers.
"We are very happy and proud of how our research is once again highlighted on IVA's 100 list. These projects give signals about the future's more sustainable solutions, and are often the starting point for continued innovation development in the form of a deeptech company at Chalmers Ventures, or for constructive collaborations with our partners" says Mats Lundqvist, vice president for utilisation at Chalmers.
In order to commercialise research and create global growth companies, there is a unique ecosystem where Chalmers Ventures is an engine. The profits from the investments in the research-based companies that Chalmers Ventures is involved in starting up make it possible to support new ground-breaking research.
"To see so many Chalmers researchers and portfolio companies represented on the IVA 100 list testifies to the quality and ability that exists here in creating benefits through, for example, commercialisation" says Sara Wallin, CEO at Chalmers Ventures.
AI and machine learning for a reliable and sustainable electric power systems
Electric utilities currently rely on a reactive approach to grid management, towards the disturbances and faults that have occurred. This approach can lead to severe grid faults and high costs associated with downtime, energy loss, damaged equipment, and unscheduled maintenance. In this research, we have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) based solution that predicts incipient faults within weeks of horizon using only voltage and current signals recorded by existing devices.
The Proposed solution enables utilities to proactively identify potential issues and take preventive measures. By implementing this online, grid-wide solution, we have observed a significant reduction in annual downtime by 60% and a 20-30% decrease in operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. This predictive maintenance system allows utilities to maintain a more stable and reliable grid while minimizing the financial and operational impact of unexpected faults and disturbances.
Researchers
Ebrahim Balouji, PhD, Department of Electrical Engineering, Karl Bäckström, doctoral student, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Tomas McKelvey, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering.
Read more on the website of Eneryield
Carbon dioxide capture without expensive gas separation - Chemical looping combustion
Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a new combustion technology that captures carbon dioxide (CO2) without the expensive and energy-intensive gas separation normally required to capture CO2 during combustion. CLC can halve the cost of carbon dioxide capture, which can provide savings in the multi-billion range given the amount of carbon dioxide that scientists estimate we need to collect in the next few decades to cope with a maximum of 1.5 degrees of warming. The method can be used when burning biomass, to produce so-called negative emissions.
Researchers
Anders Lyngfelt, Professor, Tobias Mattisson, Professor, Magnus Rydén, Professor, Carl Linderholm, senior researcher, Department of Space, Earth and Environment, and Henrik Leion, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.
Hyperlocal long-term forecasts of future electricity consumption
"Stop for new solar cell producers in Ängsbyn – house owners cannot sell their electricity". A headline on the website of Swedish Television on February 15, 2023. The power grid capacity of Ängsbyn was not enough for more local solar cell installations and the residents had to wait impatiently for the grid expansion.
The transition to a climate-neutral energy system is going faster and faster, and thus today's power grid needs to develop at a corresponding pace. Research at Chalmers has led to a completely new method for making accurate long-term forecasts of future electricity consumption down to individual blocks of houses. These forecasts are adapted to the extent of the power grid, and can be directly used by power grid companies to identify when expansion needs to be done, as well as what action is best suited based on local conditions.
Researcher
David Steen, researcher at the Department of Electrical Engineering
Read more on the website for Endre Technologies, where Elias Hartvigsson, formerly researcher at Chalmers, is CEO.
Improved Purification of Biopharmaceuticals
Among news drugs so called biopharmaceuticals from biological sources dominate today. To make biopharmaceuticals available for everyone in the world we must produce them simpler and cheaper and new efficient techniques are needed to purify the desired biomolecule. In this project, a new material that captures and releases biomolecules with electrical signals is developed. The technology is now being implemented through the spin-off company Nyctea Technologies.
Researcher
Andreas Dahlin, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Gustav Ferrand-Drake del Castillo, Doctor in Chemistry and CEO of Nyctea Technologies
Read an article about the research New material paves the way for remote-controlled medication and electronic pills
Read more on the website of Nyctea Technologies
Navari – Augmented Reality for cancer surgery
Navari Surgical develops a software-based visualization tool with the aim of simplifying for surgeons the removal of cancerous tumors in soft tissue organs, during minimal invasive operations. Navari's tools make surgery safer, while it can be performed with greater accuracy. The technology also makes it possible to choose minimal invasive surgery instead of open surgery more often.
Researchers
Torbjörn Lundh, Professor, and Klas Modin, Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences
Read an article about the method Non-invasive, effective liver surgery with a new technique
Read more on the website of Navari Surgical AB
Planetary Vision at the AI and Global Development Lab
Around 900 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty, and efforts to break the cycle of poverty have been hindered by a lack of historical and geographical data. The AI and Global Development Lab tackles this challenge by using deep learning, earth-observation satellites, and knowledge of human development to produce high-resolution data on living conditions in Africa and beyond.
Researchers
Adel Daoud, Senior affiliated associate professor, Mohammad Kakooei, postdoctoral researcher and Markus Pettersson, doctoral student, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
Read about the project at Global lab AI at Linköping University where Adel Daoud is associate professor at the Institute for Analytical Sociology. There is also a complete list of project members and partners.
Quantum technology to solve the challenges of today and tomorrow
The research of this project, funded by the WACQT program, aims to accelerate the development of quantum technology focusing on quantum computers. Quantum systems are highly sensitive and complex and require advanced control and management. The project focuses on functions to optimize the signal transmission to the quantum processor and to protect it from interference. These are two of the challenges that need to be addressed for quantum technology to be able to go from being interesting physical systems to becoming useful when solving societal challenges, in for example pharmaceutical development, encryption, and logistics.
Researcher
Robert Rehammar, researcher at Quantum Technology, Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience.
Recycling of steel swarf
The project aims to increase the recycling of steel grinding swarf, a metallic residual waste from the manufacture of steel products. It is classified as environmentally hazardous in the EU, which means that thousands of tons of the material are put in landfill every year with hundreds of millions SEK in landfilling fees for the industry. The researchers' innovative method makes it possible to extract metals from steel swarf to produce pure solutions of iron chloride with hydrogen gas as a by-product. Iron chloride is an important base chemical which is widely used in water treatment.
Researcher
Thomas Ottink, doctoral student, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Martina Petranikova Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Read more about the research Novel approach to recycling of steel swarf using hydrometallurgy
Value addition to biorefineries by reducing antibiotic use in farm animals
With antibiotic resistance being one major challenge for humanity, actions to reduce antibiotic use are required. One way to do this is to improve the defenses of farm animals to diminish the disease cases. An option with great potential is to use health enhancers like probiotics and prebiotics. Our innovation will improve the health benefits of microbes already used in industry, currently used as animal feed. These microbes improve gut health by hindering the growth of disease agents. Moreover, by improving the protection power of these microbes, value is added to the existing fermentation processes. This value addition can be key to making economically feasible the bioproduction of sustainable alternatives to products like oils, and plastics.
Researcher
Mauro Moreno-Beltrán, postdoc, Department of Life Sciences