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Our work has facilitated the creation of a variety of innovative control strategies for First Hydro Company (FHC), owner of Europe's largest pump storage plant. FHC's two plants are both supported by the simulation platform developed as part of our research and responsible for balancing load variation on the National Grid. Critically, FHC's business model relies on their ability to provide ancillary services within a short time. Our research produced a comprehensive plant model, and was used to enhance the dynamic response of the Dinorwig station; this resulted in improvement in National Grid stability and has provided competitive advantages to FHC since 2008.
Collaborations funded through EPSRC Interact and RCUK UK-China Science Bridge resulted in QUB's advanced control research having important economic and environmental impact in China, Pakistan, Vietnam. This includes the creation of new core modules for the Shanghai Automation Instrumentation Co (SAIC) SUPMAX Distributed Control System series of products now in use for whole plant monitoring and control to maximise energy efficiency and reduce pollutant emissions. These products have since 2008 increased SAIC's revenue by over $50M p.a. Related networked monitoring technologies have been successfully deployed in Baosteel's hot-rolling production lines and in the Nantong Water Treatment Company that treats 20,000 tonnes of industrial waste water daily.
Low-cost wireless solutions beyond the technologies available previously and developed at Loughborough University since 2005 are used by IDC, and Sure, who integrate these technologies in several products and services so generating impacts in terms of:
The technologies have been deployed in a logistics distribution centre (ToysRUs), an automotive manufacturing process (Toyota), and a safety and security system (Sure).
Research by Amol Sasane and co-authors is the foundation of an invention patented and used by the aerospace company Boeing to design flight control systems. The invention is a method which aims to optimize aerodynamic performance of aircraft, thereby improving fuel efficiency and flight safety.
Sasane and his co-authors' research is explicitly mentioned as having been used to overcome a problem in flight control — one that arises in newer, more sophisticated aircraft designs — in Patent no. US 8, 185,255 B2, 'Robust control effector allocation'.
VERT is a multiple award-winning virtual environment training simulator for radiotherapy education, developed during a six year research collaboration with Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals (HEYH) NHS Trust. A National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG) Report (2007) and the Department of Health (DoH) NHS Cancer Reform Strategy (2007) identified the potential for VERT to address a skills shortage and improve the radiotherapy workforce. The UK government provided £5M capital funding to implement VERT at 40 hospitals and 10 universities in England from February 2008.
The company Vertual Ltd was created to commercialise VERT. It now has an annual turnover of £2M and has created 10 new high-skilled jobs since 2008. With 92 VERT systems installed across 16 countries, it has delivered a quantum change in radiotherapy education in the UK. An active international VERT user group has been established and its impact is growing world-wide.
Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a controller design methodology involving on-line dynamic optimisation of a user-defined objective. The research of Prof. D.Q. Mayne FRS and his colleagues at Imperial College has resulted in the first MPC algorithms capable of dealing with both linear and nonlinear systems and hard constraints on controls and states, thus making MPC a viable technique for industrial applications. His research in linear and nonlinear MPC has been exploited by multinational companies such as Honeywell and ABB. Evidence of impact is found in: 1) ethylene production by Basell Polyolefins GmbH resulting in economic benefits in millions of dollars annually; 2) Sinopec's JinShan power plant efficiency, reducing fuel consumptions of 500 tons of coal and 1,700 tons of coke per annum; 3) automotive powertrain design creating new business for Honeywell (based on OnRAMP design suite); 4) ABB's cpmPlus Expert Optimizer tools used for cement manufacturing, affecting companies such as Untervaz (Switzerland), Lägerdorf (Germany) and Buzzi (Italy); 5) ABB's BoilerMaz system for optimising boiler start-up mechanism resulting in energy savings per start-up of around 15%.
The GRANIT system is a non-destructive technique for assessing the condition of rock bolts and ground anchors used to support structures such as tunnels. It applies a small impulse to the bolt and interprets the resulting vibration response to provide estimates of load and unbonded length. Initial development of the system was based on the findings of EPSRC projects in tunnels undertaken by the Universities of Aberdeen and Bradford from 1989-1997, resulting in an empirically based method. However, research undertaken at the University of Aberdeen since 1998 has provided the understanding of the process and developed the fundamental engineering science needed to underpin the development of a full commercial system. The GRANIT system is patented, and has been subject to worldwide licence to Halcrow who have undertaken testing and provided a method of ensuring the safety of mines, tunnels and similar structures. Halcrow received the NCE award for Technical Innovation Award for GRANIT in December 2010. The impact of the research has been in part economic, but largely on practitioners and professional services.
Drivers of more than 20,000 Jaguar supercharged cars sold worldwide since 2009 are enjoying handling and safety benefits as a direct result of research at Loughborough University. The active differentials control system in production on Jaguar's XF, XJ and XK vehicles is controlled by an algorithm developed at Loughborough. Funded by Jaguar Cars Ltd, the research from 2002 to 2006 was first adopted, after only minor changes, into the supercharged Jaguar XF programme released in 2009. The system is now also in the new F-type and is being extended, in a modified form, to Range Rovers, starting with the new Range Rover Sport.
Water distribution systems (WDS) are highly complex, spatially distributed networks comprising thousands of different components which deliver drinking water to customers. The impact described here has been achieved in areas of energy management, pressure control and burst detection in WDS. Some developed solutions, such as the model reduction method, model of pump stations and pressure control algorithms, have been widely accepted by the water research community and then filter down to industrial applications or implemented in a widely available shareware. Direct economical and environmental impacts have been achieved by projects for the UK companies with measurable benefits in pounds through reducing water losses and energy consumption as described in Section 4. These include South Staffordshire Water, Aquavent and Scottish Water in the pressure control area and Affinity Water (former Veolia) in the energy management and burst detection areas.
The Orthotic Research & Locomotor Assessment Unit (ORLAU) (http://www.rjah.nhs.uk/ORLAU) has run multidisciplinary services to improve the function and lifestyle of severely disabled patients since 1975. New specialist clinical services have been established, based on research and development activity. The effectiveness of these services has been the subject of further investigations. Work has focused on the development of novel technology (in gait analysis and orthotics) and increasing understanding of human movement. Conditions treated include cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, neuromuscular disorders, arthritis and stroke. Technological developments have led to licencing within the commercial sector. ORLAU has also contributed to the development of national and international clinical education and guidelines.