Projets novateurs réalisés

The fluid dynamics of expanding lava deltas

When lava enters the ocean, the molten rock spreads out and solidifies, creating a new shelf of land known as a lava delta. There have been a number of significant examples of such events over the last few years, notably at Kilauea, Hawaii in 2018, and Cumbre Vieja, La Palma in 2021. The physics of these events are complex, with changes to the driving buoyancy force due to the higher density of the ambient water relative to air, and rheological changes occurring due to the rapid cooling of the molten material. We will formulate continuum models to capture the dominant physical processes and these models will be analysed and integrated numerically to yield predictions that can be compared with observations.

Integrating a mixed energy vector battolyser into a microgrid

Micro and minigrids supplied by solar and wind power are an important solution to remote access to electricity. This project is a feasibility study investigating adding a flow battolyser into a microgrid system. When installed in a micro/ minigrid, the flow battolyser supplies metered electricity and hydrogen gas to homes, small businesses, and community buildings such as schools and health centres. The flow-battolyser operates in three modes:

1. Discharging as a battery when electricity demand exceeds generation
2. Charging as a battery
3. Use excess electricity to produce hydrogen gas for use in cooking or backup generation or small cottage industry

This project will have four main outputs
1: Learn about the conditions a battolyser will experience in a microgrid that are different from ideal laboratory conditions
2: Trial a battolyser under microgrid conditions and understand how it impacts performance
3: Use the battolyser characteristics to inform how a microgrid could be controlled with multiple energy vectors
4: Develop a pathway for future collaboration

Machine learning for modelling and control of direct air capture systems

The placement project will investigate the use of machine learning for modelling and control of an offshore wind powered direct air capture (DAC) system. DAC remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere which is injected into deep-sea reservoirs and are a key negative emission technology, which are becoming increasingly vital as a climate change mitigation strategy to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement. The problem of controlling DAC systems is difficult due to the complex operation and the
intermittency of the wind power supply. A traditional approach for controlling DAC systems uses mathematical modelling, which is time consuming, requires specialist expert knowledge and is computationally expensive to execute. The project will use a data-driven approach to modelling and controlling DAC systems by drawing on the latest developments in machine learning such as deep learning and reinforcement leaning. The objective is to show the feasibility of machine learning in this setting and implement an adaptive, learning based controller that maximises the CO2 capture rate.

Policy and practice: understanding the built environment’s transition to a circular economy in the UK and Canada

Transition to a circular economy (CE) can lower emissions from the built environment by reducing material consumption and waste generation. Because of this, CE policies and adoption of CE practices are increasingly being seen across the globe. This project assesses the current state of transition to a CE in the Canadian and UK built environments, and considers how this is influenced by policy. In addition to a comprehensive review of existing policy instruments, construction sector stakeholders from each country will be consulted to measure current engagement with different CE strategies. From this, the relative state of CE transition in each context, as well as how this interrelates with policy, may be compared. Ultimately, the project will enable the formation of recommendations to enhance the adoption of CE in the Canadian and UK built environments.

Satellite remote sensing of melt water river discharge

The intern Samuel Valman will work with Professors André St-Hilaire and Normand Bergeron at IRNS to develop a system to monitor river water discharge using satellite earth observation. The method developed will focus on measuring discharge during the melt water season of rivers in Quebec. This meltwater period is traditionally the most difficult period to measure river discharge with traditional methods which can only measure discharge at a single point along the river system and are prone to errors during high flow events. This method will utilize the novel “cubesat” satellites flown in a constellation by Planet Imagery which enable daily high-resolution images of these sites. The project will require some fieldwork to create discharge rating curves based on river width which can then be used with this satellite measured river width to measure discharge values throughout the year.

The expected outputs of this product include a scientific research article on the success of the method and the production of a system that can be used for monitoring flood risk and water resources in the future.

Visualizing privacy analysis results

Health data usage is regulated by health data regulation, such as PHIPA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PHIPA). To support the increasing demand in healthcare, systems utilizing digital storage and processing personal data has become essential, e.g. hospital data management systems. However, these systems are often complex and prone to data theft, misuse, and other data privacy concerns. Therefore, satisfying data privacy goals and enforcing health data regulation is crucial for these systems. That, however, remains challenging due to ambiguity and interpretation of regulation’s natural language. In this context, the goal of this project is to help systems that deal with medical data to respect health data regulation. We are working towards building an automatic approach to guid system’s compliance with health data regulations. Software compliance with a regulation can be checked on the system design or on an operational model of a system implementation. In this project, we focus on the early stage, where one can check whether a formalization of the system requirements satisfies privacy data regulations. The formalization can be done using a descriptive formalism like temporal logic, instead of using an operational one, based on transition systems.

Development of CFD model applied to fluidized beds for waste gasification

Gasification of wastes (either urban waste or residues from forest and agricultural operations) at large scale is a challenging operation because of the heterogeneity of the feedstock. Enerkem has addressed such challenge via its state-of-the art Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB) technology coupled with secondary Cracking and Reforming that results in high conversion of Carbon to syngas and a quality of the Syngas that makes it suitable for Catalytic Processing. The Enerkem approach provides a sustainable alternative to both landfill and incineration. As a guide for the engineering scale up and in order to optimize the performance of the technology, advanced modeling tools are to be adapted to such systems. Identified areas for optimization include: enhanced feedstock flexibility, higher energy efficiency and lower operational and maintenance costs. Based on a fully functional demonstration plant at Westbury, the project aims to develop Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models in order to predict and optimize the BFB behavior. Specifically, a 3D thermo-fluid dynamics model will be developed for visualization of flow and thermal fields in the BFB. Specialized CFD software and Sherbrooke University’s high performance computer will be used to perform the numerical simulations.

How do textbooks promote reconciliation?

How do textbooks promote reconciliation? Over the past decade, new history textbooks have been published in Canada and in Central Europe. In Ontario and Quebec, the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report provided a stimulus for reform. In Europe, historians from Germany and Poland wrote a textbook – approved in both countries – which seeks to overcome the historical animosity between the two nations. In what ways are these new textbooks different from the old ones? How is reconciliation understood in different cultural contexts? The student and the supervisor will co-author a blog entry about textbook reforms in Europe and Canada and, in the long run, publish a journal article. The student will also create a British-Canadian Network of Textbook Experts – a community of education researchers and practitioners – with the intention of fostering new transatlantic research and consultancy partnerships. The members will meet at a virtual networking event in November 2022. Collectively, the placement explores how Europeans and Canadians can benefit from each other’s experience with curricula and textbook development.

Extreme star formation in the ultraviolet: The CASTOR revolution

CASTOR is a proposed wide-field, ultraviolet and optical space telescope that is under development by the Canadian Space Agency. Ultraviolet light is the best tracer of star formation in galaxies, and CASTOR’s unique combination of sensitivity and excellent image quality will be transformational for this field of study. In this project we will assess how CASTOR imaging could be used to measure the physical properties (including stellar masses, star formation rates and chemical properties) for large samples of starburst galaxies in the nearby Universe. The project will involve end-to-end simulations of ultraviolet and optical imaging from CASTOR, plus infrared imaging from the European Space Agency’s soon-to-be-launched Euclid telescope. Some of the tools and techniques to be developed during this project will be integrated into a suite of software packages that is being developed by the consortium to help astronomers in Canada and UK plan future CASTOR science programmes.

Alluvial landscape evolution in response to deglaciation. A case study from the Thompson River, south-central British Columbia.

The amount of water and sediment entering a river control the nature of its flow. In
landscapes vulnerable to climate change, e.g., changes in precipitation, hydrology, or the
disappearance of glaciers, this could result in significant changes in water and sediment
inputs to rivers. The consequence of this may be down-stream flooding with negative
impacts to industry and society. Models mathematically relate amounts of sediment and
water input to expected changes in the properties of rivers, such as the steepness of
channels. However, there are few studies of how rivers adjust to changing conditions in
reality to test these models and determine their utility. This project seeks to study the
sediments preserved in the Thompson River valley, south-central British Columbia, to
understand how the river evolved in response to pronounced climate changes following the
melting of Ice Age glaciers in the region. Expected outcomes are a new dataset of river
deposits with quantitative ages for which past water and sediment inputs into the river have
been calculated, as well as past aspects of the river’s geometry, such as gradient.

Recycled aerospace grade Ti-6Al-4V, for structural applications in offshore renewable energy systems.

The UK and Canada have officially declared a climate emergency; clean energy production is vital in combating climate change. Offshore wind proves a viable method of green energy production for the UK and Canada. Titanium alloys offer longer lasting structural materials than steels, but titanium is expensive. Recycling titanium from aerospace waste offers a cost effective and green source of high-performance materials. A novel recycling process called field assisted sintering technology, can easily recycle titanium. The combination of crashing waves and corrosive environment, damages offshore renewable-energy structures. In this project we investigate the effects that the marine environment has on the growth of cracks in the currently used steels and recycled titanium by bending the titanium and steel within a marine environment and measuring crack growth using innovative non-contact techniques like digital image correlation. We expect that the crack growth will be faster in the currently used steel than recycled titanium. This would mean that a wind turbine made from titanium would have a longer lifetime and produce more green energy, which could make it cost and energy effective.

Investigating Sex Differences in Beta Cell Calcium Handling

Diabetes is a disease affecting around 10% of the population which is caused by an inability to regulate blood glucose levels. Sex differences exist in diabetes; men have increased
incidence of type 2 diabetes compared to pre- menopausal women. Blood glucose levels are normally tightly controlled by insulin release from beta cells in the pancreas, a process which involves calcium signaling. Dysregulated calcium signaling in these cells disrupts insulin release and has been associated with diabetes. Considering the sex differences in diabetes and findings that other tissues show sex differences in calcium handling, we want to investigate whether sex differences exist in calcium handling in beta cells. To do this, we plan to investigate calcium signaling in two of the main calcium storage compartments in beta cells isolated from non-diabetic and diabetic male and female mice using calcium imaging
technology.