Problem 1 (Elkem ASA, Kristiansand, Norway)

Modelling formation and growth of carbon by-product in turquoise hydrogen production at laboratory scale (Elkem ASA, Kristiansand Norway)

Elkem is developing a new concept to eliminate all direct CO2 emissions from the silicon (Si) production process. The new concept has been developed based on carbon looping, where carbon oxides in the process off-gases are captured, converted to solid carbon, and reused in the process. When successful, this will become a game changer for the global silicon industry.

Part of this new concept involves adopting an alternative carbon source for the Si production. One such alternative source comes from a carbon by-product created during methane pyrolysis for hydrogen production. The benefit of using this alternative source is a reduction to Elkem’s direct carbon emissions, increased security in Elkem’s raw material supply, and process synergy with the growing hydrogen production industry in Europe.

The new concept is still in the experimental stages, with laboratory scale experiments being performed to gain understanding of the pyrolysis process. We aim to create a process which maximises the conversion of methane to hydrogen gas and carbon solid, with the ability to control the formation and growth of carbon particles.

The goal is to create a mathematical model of the experimental set-up which will provide insight into the process and help guide the experiments, whilst opening the possibility to explore the impact of scaling up to the larger production scale. The model should make use of fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and reaction kinetics.

Problem 2 (Ålesund Biomechanics Lab, Helse MR)

Soft Tissue Modelling for Orthopedic Surgery

Vision

Simulator training for surgeons is increasingly important. While simulators for basic skill training have already been deployed, they have insufficient fidelity to train experienced surgeons in particular and advanced procedures.

Problem

One of the problems to solve is dynamic modelling of soft tissue to allow simulation of deformation, tear, and cutting as will arise in surgical procedures.

Challenge

Soft-tissue deformation is readily simulated in mesh models, governed by differential equations which are solluble by finite element modelling. However, tear (cutting) introduces discrete events, changing the topology of the mesh. This is known to be computationally hard.

There are potential side issues, such as the interaction between soft tissue (muscles and fat) and rigid bodies (skeleton). Some surgical procedures require bending of the joint during surgery, giving two simultaneous sources of dynamics.

Problem 3 (Ålesund Municipality)

Dynamically calculated response time for civil defence and urban planning

The local authorities are responsible for organising and maintaining the fire station and ambulance networks in such a way that the response time does not exceed 10 minutes.

The goal is to calculate the time for first responders to reach the various places in a city (based on Open Street Map network with max speed) for various alternatives. The algorithm and online service should be preferably handled dynamically: giving the urban planners and fire station officers the possibility of moving the stations dynamically.

The service should be running in real-time and would provide a heatmap of response time based on the location of the service providers (fire station, ambulance) Reversely, the service could also be used for distance from homes to hospitals and schools.

Problem 4 (Furuno Norge AS)

Estimation of salmon biomass and behaviour

Furuno Norge AS is developing a solution for the Norwegian aquaculture industry were salmon biomass and behaviour are estimated with the aid of hydroacoustic sensors. In order to give the aquaculture industry a reliable tool for surveillance of large densities of fish several factors need to be considered.

The aim of the project is to combine data from different sources and to build mathematical models that use this information to describe the biological system under survey. Furuno Norge AS will give several problems related to data treatment and modelling with the aim of explaining salmon densities and behaviour.

Problem 5 (Solwr AS, Ålesund, Norway)

Dynamic stability in pallet loading problems

Solwr Robotics is automating pick`n place operations in warehouses. A challenge faced by the robot is maintaining a stable pallet throughout the picking operation. As the robot is moving through the warehouse, we face practical situations such as steep turns and emergency stops. Our operational experience shows that common stability constraints found in literature are not satisfactory for our dynamic situation.

The study group will focus on proposing and developing possible approaches for the problem and establishing a theoretical framework upon which to construct a fast and reliable dynamic stability algorithm. The algorithm needs to be high performant (as it is an integral part of evaluating many different combinations in order to guide our search algorithm) while providing a guarantee for stack stability to ensure no load is toppled during operation.