This research aims to provide an affordable, clean energy alternative to meet the world’s cooling demands. As global warming, urbanization, and society’s dependency on digital storage increases, the world’s cooling demands continue to rapidly grow with predictions showing that they will outweigh heating demands by 2060. The majority of these demands are currently being met with the use of fossil fuels. Through the use of proprietary Eavor-Loop technology (joined horizontal wells acting like a subsurface heat exchanger), geothermal energy can become a feasible, reliable, scalable solution.

How do you support the fastest growing municipality in a largely rural region as it works through its growing pains? What happens in a rapidly growing community that’s been recognized as one of the best places to live as it tries to keep up with labour demands, changing demographics, and challenges to the enabling infrastructure that support a strong labour market and economic development? This research focuses on understanding the implications of the unique labour market dynamics of a rural region in transition through a case-study of Saugeen Shores, Ontario.

In recent years there has been renewed interest in nuclear power for the purposes of combating climate change. ARC Nuclear’s ARC-100 reactor design requires extensive research and development to deploy a prototype. Significant effort is needed to develop the materials to be used in the reactor’s core. HT9 is a specialty steel alloy which has shown some promising results in the past and therefore has been selected for use in the ARC-100.

Cyber security is fundamental to guarantee the reliable operation of the electric power systems. As the energy industry migrates to the digital space with information and communication technology (ICT), managing the electricity delivery is becoming complex and increasingly dependent on industrial control systems (ICS). The heavy reliance on ICT and the rapid penetration of ICS devices, however, have exposed the power systems to new cyber security challenges.

The result of this project can be used by engineers to design a multivariable control system that will optimize the dosing of chemicals in seawater pretreatment. Besides, the plant operators and technicians will be able to perform 'what if' scenarios based on computer modeling results to ensure that the outlet water quality is not decreased. The model will also provide an understanding of the effective parameters that determine the optimum coagulant/ flocculant dosage required for an effective water treatment process.

This project will integrate normal temperature battery (NTB) that is cheap but only can discharge above-20?, and low temperature battery (LTB) that is expensive but can work at -40? into an insulated housing with a smart hybrid battery management system. And a heat pipe with design trigger temperature will be integrated to the housing to prevent overheating of NTB, which will ensure the hybrid battery can work properly in both hot and cold environment.

Salt splitting is a technology in which an electrochemical cell containing 2 membranes to transport positive and negative ions, is used to produce sulfuric acid and caustic soda from sodium sulfate, a compound found commonly from industrial brine streams. Salt splitting electrolysis is a sustainable solution for the expanding markets of acid and caustic recovery and treatment of neutralization waste products, which would otherwise be disposed.

Supercapacitors are electrochemical energy storage devices that promise fast charge-discharge rate, high power density, and long cycle life. However, low energy density, high cost, and safety risk of supercapacitors are yet to be addressed in order to deploy the technology into wholesale grid storage. This research project will design low-cost and high-performance electrode and electrolyte for supercapacitors.

Currently, the traditional use of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) is well-known in the science community as an effective photovoltaic technology, where it works best in diffuse lighting conditions. With the insights brought from this research project, the DSSC can also be transformed into an optically sensing motion sensor based on the dye utilized within it. This project will focus on synthesizing a family of organic dyes that absorb in the near-infrared region, optimal for detecting movement. The second half of the project will utilize those dyes in device fabrication.