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Case 1 – Efficient and Economical Plant Management via Model Predictive Control

Summary of the impact

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%.

Submitting Institution

Imperial College London

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics, Numerical and Computational Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Computation Theory and Mathematics

Enhancing of National Grid Stability via optimisation of “Dinorwig Hydro Power Station”

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

Bangor University

Unit of Assessment

Computer Science and Informatics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics, Numerical and Computational Mathematics, Statistics

From Satellite Control to Film and Computer Animation – Spin Out Ikinema

Summary of the impact

Inverse kinematics mathematics developed at Surrey for satellite control is being commercialised for motion capture, film animation and for real-time animation in computer games through IKinema, a University of Surrey spin-out company. Ikinema is the most advanced full-body IK solver and has been used in films such as X-men First Class and Wrath of the Titans 2; it is embedded in Luxology's modo-601, and is used by major film studios including 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lucas Film, ILM, and visual effects specialists and game developers such as Framestore, Square Enix, and AudioMotion. IKinema currently employs 6 staff and is profitable, with 80% of sales revenues generated by export.

Submitting Institution

University of Surrey

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing, Computation Theory and Mathematics

Control technologies for advanced energy efficiency and environmental emission reduction in industrial plants

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics, Statistics
Engineering: Mechanical Engineering

Stability control algorithm research improves handling and safety for Jaguar Land Rover drivers

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

Loughborough University

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing

Integrated High-speed Generation Set Controllers

Summary of the impact

Novel integrated control systems together with their application within a holistic operational strategy have been created as a result of research with Caterpillar. Caterpillar the world's largest manufacturer of high-speed diesel generator sets (gen-sets) has invested [text removed for publication]. This activity yields significant commercial advantage in both performance and efficiency bringing benefits for the environment, through reduced emissions, and major customer operational savings.

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences: Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
Engineering: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

British Dairy Herd National Mastitis Control Scheme. The "DairyCo Mastitis Control Plan"

Summary of the impact

The University of Nottingham (UoN) led research that resulted in the design, evaluation and national implementation of a new approach to mastitis control on British dairy farms; the `DairyCo Mastitis Control Plan'. The programme, which commenced in 2009, was implemented on farms holding 10-15% of all British dairy cows. The uptake of the scheme is continually increasing and has generated savings to the British dairy industry to the order of £5-10M per annum.

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences: Animal Production

Design and optimization of communication networks

Summary of the impact

This case study provides an account of work on a mathematical framework for the design and optimization of communication networks, and some examples of the framework's influence upon the development of the network congestion control schemes that underlie modern communication networks, notably the Internet.

The impact on protocol development and on network architectures has been significant; in particular on the development of congestion control algorithms and multipath routing algorithms that are stable and fair. Several of the insights on large scale system behaviour have been transferred to help understand cascading failures in other large scale systems, including transport infrastructures.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Applied Mathematics, Statistics
Information and Computing Sciences: Computation Theory and Mathematics

Control engineering applied to radiotherapy

Summary of the impact

This case study presents the applied research work in systems modelling, control and machine vision led by Dr Haas and its impact on radiotherapy. The research is linked to a series of collaborative projects with industry and the NHS on control systems development for clinical equipment, and the evaluation of state of the art treatments. The main impacts are:

  • Health impacts and impact on clinical technologies: i) the realisation of the Total Skin Electron Betatron Unit, which is a unique skin cancer treatment machine, ii) the development of methods and devices to evaluate the capabilities of medical equipment for adaptive and image-guided radiotherapy thereby contributing to its clinical deployment.
  • Impact on practitioners and professional services: the initiation of a culture change by encouraging the use of computer simulation tools and increased application of control theory in industry and the NHS.

Submitting Institution

Coventry University

Unit of Assessment

General Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Physical Sciences: Other Physical Sciences
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences, Oncology and Carcinogenesis

Commercialised advances in computer algebra

Summary of the impact

Maple is a major commercial computer algebra system, with millions of users worldwide. It is used in many industrial applications, covering diverse sectors including automotive, aerospace and defense, electronics, energy, financial services, consumer products, entertainment, basic research and teaching. Research by Davenport's team at Bath, in collaboration with the University of Western Ontario, has led to algorithmic advances that have been incorporated in recent releases of Maple. These advances mean that Maple can solve systems of equations it could not previously solve, give completely accurate solutions to systems it could previously only approximate, and can present the solutions to the user in an improved manner.

As well as including code written at Bath directly in Maple, MapleSoft have deployed a Senior Developer to integrate the work of Davenport's team closely into the Maple system. These solution algorithms are now transparently available to all users of Maple. MapleSoft themselves have used the solution algorithms in an industrial application in a consultancy project with a major Japanese automotive manufacturer.

Submitting Institution

University of Bath

Unit of Assessment

Computer Science and Informatics

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Pure Mathematics

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