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Research by Professor Vardy's team on unsteady pipe-flows has found direct application in road/rail tunnel design practice and in offshore engineering. The impact is exemplified by Vardy's participation in the design of many of the world's longest road and rail tunnels and in his work with industry on the detection and location of blockages in offshore pipelines. His flagship software ThermoTun, which predicts transient velocities, pressures and temperatures in complex train:tunnel systems, is licensed internationally by several major engineering consultancies and his software (MPVC) controls ventilation systems in seven Japanese road tunnels. His oil pipeline software (PipePulse) is used currently in the offshore oil industry to identify and clear flow obstructions in pipelines.
Since the 1970's the influence of aerodynamics on racing car design has risen substantially, and now in the modern era it is seen as one of the most important factors in producing a race-winning car. Research carried out in the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London, into flow control techniques and the development of cutting-edge numerical and experimental methods has allowed specific and significant improvements in the aerodynamic design of Formula One racing cars. This has led to reduced lap times and a more competitive racing environment. These advances have also contributed to improving handling, resulting in a safer racing environment. This research has provided the Formula One industry, which has an estimated annual turnover of $2 billion, with a means to employ engineers who have the key knowledge and insights that allow them to continue to innovate in a tightly controlled engineering environment. The Chief Designer or Chief Aerodynamicist in six out of the twelve 2012 F1 teams have carried out relevant research at Imperial College London.
The development of a novel 3D inverse design method for turbomachinery aerodynamic design at UCL has led to important design breakthroughs for pump and compressor applications. The resulting IP and software has been commercialised by a UCL spinout company Advanced Design Technology Ltd (ADT), which is now considered a global leader in advanced turbomachinery design software. Since 2008, the 3D inverse design codes embedded within ADT's TURBOdesign™ suite of software have been adopted by many of the leading turbomachinery equipment manufacturers in Europe, Japan and the US. These companies are using the TURBOdesign suite to achieve significant improvements in the time taken to design their turbomachinery components. It has also helped them unlock major efficiency gains and hence achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions. [text removed for publication]
Research carried out in the School of Mathematics at the University of Bristol between 1998 and 2005 has been instrumental in the development of structures that arrest or deflect the rapid flow of snow that characterises avalanches in mountainous regions of the world. The research has been embodied in a series of guidance documents for engineers on the design of such structures and many defence dams and barriers have been built across Europe since 2008. The guidance is now adopted as standard practice in many of the countries that experience avalanches. Investment in avalanche defence projects based on the design principles set out in the guidance runs into tens of millions of pounds. The Bristol research is also used internationally in the training of engineers who specialise in avalanche protection schemes. Given the scale of the threat to life and property from these potent natural hazards, the impact of the research is considerable in terms of the societal and economic benefits derived from the reduction of the risk posed by snow avalanches.
Research in the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering (DoEng), which made it possible for the first time to design a 3D compressor blade as a single component, underpinned the design of compressors in Rolls-Royce civil aero engines. Blades designed using the research results yielded fuel efficiency improvements of 0.8% when deployed in Rolls-Royce Trent engines. The efficiency improvements in engines in service are estimated to have delivered savings of 460k tonnes in CO2 emissions and USD 145 million in fuel costs during the assessment period. Rolls- Royce's outstanding order book for engines in which the technology made a significant contribution to efficiency is estimated to be worth GBP 27 billion at list prices as at 31 July 2013; orders received during the assessment period are estimated to be worth GBP 18 billion at list prices.
This impact is the improvement of aircraft engine efficiency by the application of profiled endwalls to turbine blades. The technology was researched by Durham University and exploited by Rolls-Royce by deploying the technology on airframes. Engines with profiled endwalls include the Trent 900 (A380 airframe), Trent 1000 (787 Airframe) and Trent XWB (A350 airframe). This (as of April 2013) totals around 2000 aircraft engine orders with profiled endwall technology applied. A saving of 1750 litres of fuel per flight from Zurich to Singapore was estimated when profiled endwalls are applied. This gives a 4400 kg reduction in carbon dioxide emissions for such a journey with a fuel cost saving of over $1100. In addition to the environmental benefit and the obvious cash savings for airlines an economic benefit for UK industry has arisen as Rolls-Royce is able to sell engines with a reduced fuel burn as well.
Multiphase flow research at Imperial has developed bespoke software code, and provided unique data for validation of commercial codes used for oil-and-gas design. This research has enabled global oil companies (e.g. Chevron) to undertake successfully the design of deep-water production systems requiring multi-billion pound capital investments. This research has also allowed SPT Group (now owned by Schlumberger), one of the largest software (OLGA) providers to the oil industry, to maintain their position as market leaders.
Research from the Sheffield Department of Mechanical Engineering has led to major improvements in engineering analysis and design software for aerospace companies such as Rolls-Royce and Airbus. As a result of introducing new practices based on our research, the organisations have reported significantly reduced time input to design components as well as related economic benefits. For example: Rolls-Royce has reported an order of magnitude improvement in the time needed to mesh components. Similarly, by adopting our highly efficient computational aerodynamics solvers, Defence Science & Technology Laboratory has reduced the time its engineers spent evaluating concepts from many days to a few hours.
Using advanced mathematics and numerical modelling we have demonstrated how fundamental understanding of laminar-turbulent transitions in fluid flows can save energy. From 2008 we helped the cleantech company, Maxsys Fuel Systems Ltd, to understand and improve their technology and demonstrate to customers how it can reduce fuel use by 5-8%. Customers including Ford Motor, Dow Chemical and Findus testify to the impact from financial savings and reduced carbon emissions obtained by installing Maxsys products on industrial burners used widely in many industrial sectors including automotive, bulk chemicals and food. In 2010, Selas Heat Technology Company bought the Maxsys brand to invest in this success.
Our flow modelling and process optimisation research has improved significantly the scientific understanding of key industrial coating, printing and droplet flow systems. We have implemented our research findings in software tools for staff training and process optimisation which have enabled: (i) the worldwide coating industry to improve the productivity and sustainability of their manufacturing processes; (ii) [text removed for publication]; (iii) a major automotive supply company to develop an award-winning droplet filtration system for diesel engines. [text removed for publication].