Log in
The consultancy company AeroTex makes use of UCL research findings to design new and improved ice protection systems for fixed wing or rotor aircraft. These new designs enable AeroTex's customers (aircraft manufacturers and Tier 1 equipment suppliers) to comply with upcoming changes that are raising aircraft certification standards and to operate aircraft more safely in icing conditions. The increase in income to AeroTex resulting from this work was approximately [text removed for publication] per year between 2010 and 2013, representing around 15% of AeroTex's annual turnover.
By modelling the formation of micro-bubbles and the flows induced by them, researchers at the University of Cambridge Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics developed a new, low-cost nozzle design that could be retrofitted to existing Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) systems. This new design dramatically improved the performance of DAF systems, used by the water industry for the production of drinking water. Specifically, this research has enabled a substantial increase in throughput and effectiveness of the flotation process, whilst simultaneously providing a dramatic decrease in the energy requirement.
Cranfield's understanding and modelling of aircraft icing, a critical part of the safety, operation and design protocols for all types of aircraft, has changed the way in which aerospace companies approach the design of new aircraft. Cranfield's research has produced high quality predictive software and an extensive experimental validation database the impact of which is its use in the design, optimisation and certification of aircraft and their components.
The impact of Cranfield's icing research is in the design processes for:
New characterisation tools for natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water are now used as standard practice within water companies such as Severn Trent Water, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water. The tools inform decisions, and help develop strategic plans on catchment management, source selection, treatment optimisation, and disinfection practice. Water companies experienced difficulties in treating high levels of NOM. Cranfield created a novel characterisation toolkit to measure NOM for its electrical charge and hydrophobicity. Also, new techniques for measuring aggregate properties and emerging disinfection by-products have provided a comprehensive analysis. Two novel treatment technologies are currently marketed. These technologies have raised international interest, resulting in industrial development in Australia.
Diarrhoeal disease is the world's second most common cause of death in children under five years old, killing 760,000 children each year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Microbial contamination of drinking water is one of the most important causes. In England and Wales acute diarrhoeal disease is estimated to cost the country £1.5 billion annually. UEA epidemiologists have shown the important role of water supply systems in spreading diarrhoeal disease in developed and developing countries; led WHO research projects on small scale drinking water systems; and influenced WHO policy on small scale drinking water systems in developed and developing countries. Methodological research on epidemiological methods for monitoring and regulating bathing water quality has led to changes in WHO guidance on bathing water quality standards and influenced US Environmental Protection Agency criteria. Hunter's participation in international expert panels facilitated the impact of this research on policy.
Research at Cranfield has underpinned national policies for managing and allocating the UK's agricultural water resources over the past 20 years. It has supported major reforms in water policy, abstraction legislation and drought management. It has done this by modelling spatial and temporal variations in demand for irrigation, linking this to the financial impacts of water stress on crop yield and quality, projecting future demand, and assessing climate change impacts and potential adaptations. It has also significantly impacted the agri-food sector, helping agribusinesses assess the viability of irrigation and reservoir investment, encouraging collaboration, and reducing risks in the food supply chain.
Eutrophication results from excessive nutrient discharge to a water-body, reducing water quality. Eutrophication status must comply with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD). As part of a consortium, UHI developed, validated and researched a model (CSTT) capable of screening a water-body for eutrophication. The model was used to defend the UK in the European Court of Justice (2009), against proceedings brought by the European Commission alleging infraction of UK obligations under the UWWTD. The model proved that British waters were not harmfully impacted by eutrophication, sparing the UK government ~£6 billion to implement tertiary sewage treatment across England and Wales.
NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn's icy moon Enceladus in 2009-10 investigated the presence of explosive ice geysers towering over the south pole of the planet. The geysers consist of vapour and ice particles which rise up to 1,000 kilometres above Enceladus' surface. The source of these jets has been hotly contested. Cassini's mission was to fly as close as possible to the plumes to search for evidence of sub-surface water containing the building blocks of life.
Mathematical modelling, conducted at Leicester, allowed the mission designers to calculate the possibility of the Cassini Spacecraft colliding with dust from the Enceladus jets, with potentially catastrophic results, enabling the craft to be manoeuvred as close as safely possible to the moon's surface to capture the images it required.
The mission, with an estimated $3.26 billion cost, was successful — gathering evidence that the research team's hypothesis of a subterranean sea on Enceladus was correct — a revelation which has inspired public interest around the world.
This case study focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict within the context of the Oslo peace process. It documents four areas of impact, the underpinning research and associated engagement and dissemination activity having: (1) [text removed for publication] (2) significantly enhanced public and policy understanding of, and debate on, the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict, within Israel, the Palestinian territories and internationally; (3) [text removed for publication] and (4) contributed to the emergence of influential critiques of international policy on water `cooperation'.
The virtual water concept is used to identify and quantify water use which is hidden, or embedded within the production and supply of food and other commodities. Its primary application has been to demonstrate that the majority of water consumed globally is used within the production and trade of food. Introduced and developed by Allan, virtual water research has transformed public and private sector water policy and its metrics in the UK and internationally. Instantiated through conceptual work published in 1993 and 1994 and developed through empirical studies thereafter, virtual water was widely adopted by 2000. The idea is now accepted as an essential element in the framing of policy on water security and its economic systems. Virtual water has been increasingly deployed by advisers to governments, corporations and NGOs, below we provide evidence from the U.S. State department, Coca Cola, WWF and the World Economic Forum, this is by no means a complete list. In 2011 the UK House of Lords and UK government's official response urged the EU Commission to incorporate virtual water in EU Policy. In recognition of the global conceptual impact of virtual water, Tony Allan was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize, 2008. In 2013, in recognition of impact made in preceding years through his virtual water concept and research Allan was also awarded the Foundation Prince Albert II de Monaco Water Award and the International Environmentalist Award of the Florence-based Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron.