Innovative Projects Realized

Deciphering the catalyst-ionomer interface in fuel cells: Molecular dynamics simulations of local transport properties

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells are a key technology in the race against climate challenge, and while commercial applications are increasingly common, challenges remain in cost, performance, and durability. Most of the issues that prevent full commercialization affect the catalyst layer, the region where the power-generating electrochemical reactions take place, like the oxygen reduction reaction. This layer consists of platinum nanoparticles supported on a carbon material and covered by an ion conducting polymer. Resistance to the transport of oxygen molecules to this layer causes loss of efficiency, especially at a lower platinum surface area. Driving the cost of fuel cells lower by reducing platinum loading and achieving high durability for heavy duty automotive markets both result in lower catalyst surface over the product lifetime and require increased robustness to oxygen transport losses. The small scale of the components in the catalyst layer make it a challenge to study experimentally and computational efforts are crucial at understanding the underlying interactions. To this end, we propose developing a computational model based on molecular dynamics of the platinum/carbon/polymer region to rationalize the factors affecting oxygen transport resistance and to propose design improvements that can reduce power losses and costs in next-generation fuel cells.

Social Influence and performance in a simulated clinical scenario and evaluation of the validity of simulation for team training

The complexity of modern healthcare requires teams of professionals to work together to identify gaps in care. Failures of the healthcare team mean that patient safety and healthcare outcomes are compromised. This series of studies will explore how cognitive load and stress influence obedience to authority, team performance and ultimately patient safety. The outcomes will be used to better prepare healthcare teams to protect the patient against human factors that hinder teams addressing behaviours and decisions that hinder patient safety.

Development and Improvement of Solantro Self-Forming Nano-Grid (SFnG)

With the development of industry, more and more energy consumption has brought about a huge crisis. The development of renewable energy technologies, such as photovoltaic equipment, offers new hope for solving energy problems. Solantro SFnG has been developed and operated in the company’s lab for about 5 years. This real-life nanogrid contains PV panels, energy storage units, a variety of loads and the micro-chip controller. Based the Solantro SFnG, this project is going to develop a bidirectional, high efficiency, high power density on-board charger to enable EV charging for the current nanogrid. The proposed project involves three sub-objectives: (a) Develop bi-directional high efficiency, high power density, and low-cost power factor correction . (b) Develop high efficiency, high power density, low-cost, and safe DC/DC converter. (c) Develop optimal energy management strategies. It will provide Solantro’s customers and commercial partners the ability to unify alternative energy generation/storage and high performance integrated EV charging system.

Optimizing the use of recycled treated fines in eco-efficient concrete mixtures

Concrete is a major construction material used worldwide responsible for the production of roughly 7% of total global carbon dioxide emissions. The extent of its environmental impact relates to the energy embodied in extraction and transportation of concrete aggregates with a direct link to the amount of Portland cement (PC) used to bind the raw materials. Recent advances in design protocols, packing models, and geopolymers are increasingly being used to minimize concrete’s carbon footprint and to produce PC free mixes. In this study, we plan on using recycled materials, such as those derived from concrete construction projects, to offset raw material requirements. Yet little is known of how recycled and treated soil fines affect concrete and geopolymer mixtures in the fresh and hardened states. Using the above mentioned techniques, this work aims to incorporate recycled and treated fine materials into concrete and geopolymer mixtures at proportions that minimally affect performance.

Corrosion assessment of pyrolysis/hydrothermal liquefaction bio-oils: effects of upgrading treatments by catalytic hydro-de-oxygenation (HDO) in supercritical methanol/ethanol

Bio-oil derived from fast pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction of lignocellulosic biomass usually contains a high oxygen content (30-50%), leading to a relatively low heating value, high viscosity and poor stability. Moreover, the presence of organic acids in crude bio-oil results in low pH value and hence corrosion of the reactor materials (steel or alloys). To date, a wide range of bio-oil upgrading techniques have been developed, especially hydro-de-oxygenation (HDO), widely employed to remove oxygen of the crude bio-oil via water formation. By far, not much research has been done on the reactor materials corrosion during HDO upgrading. In this research, upgrading of the crude bio-oil by HDO in supercritical methanol or ethanol will be investigated, not only to develop cost-effective processes for producing high-quality bio-fuels, but to explore corrosion mechanism of metallic alloy materials during bio-oil HDO or in contact with the crude and upgraded bio-oils.

Twitter Data Processing

Given the plurality of voices available on the I nternet, it is often difficult to estimate the level of
expertise of the individuals that one encounters in cyber-space. On the other hand, it is also difficult
for any individual expert to establish their credibility in this sea of screaming voices. Therefore, it is
desirable to have an independent mechanism to prove a given person’s claims to authenticity and
legitimacy. One valuable source of information in this endeavour is the individual’s interactions with
content on the web, be it blogging, tweeting, etc. The specific goal of this project is to extract a
collection of topics from the links posted to a given Twitter account to identify the user’s interests and
to use that collection to provide a mechanism for comparing the acuteness of the interest of different
individuals in a given topic.

Consequence assessment of potential tailings storage facility failures within the Canadian context

Recent catastrophic tailings storage facility (TSF) failures have resulted in immense societal, environmental and economic losses. Currently, research on TSF risk is primarily focused on the technical reasons for failure or post-failure environmental damages. Furthermore, limited research explores the financial, environmental and social consequences of potential TSF failure within potential tailings inundation zones. This project works to quantify and communicate the potential consequences of Canadian tailings storage facility failures to institutional investors. There is a pressing and urgent need to develop mining project assessment tools to understand and communicate the consequences of potential TSF failures to people, infrastructure, and the environment. This research will provide Resourceful Paths with tools and clearer justification for mining companies to commit to safer choices for alternative tailings disposal strategies. Additionally, this project will equip mining investors and stakeholders with much-needed decision-making information to improve the management and mitigation of TSF risk and act to spread best practice across the sector.

Artificial Intelligence in Mass Transit

Transportation systems are evolving towards intelligent transportation systems and ISR Transit is a leading provider of these systems providing solutions in fleet management. In these systems, one of the enabling technologies is wireless sensor networks in which sensors are used to obtain information about the fleets. For example, sensors are deployed on motor, brake modules, doors, emergency buttons and passenger stop request. The information captured by these sensors is transmitted to a central controller to optimize productivity by tracking, monitoring, and managing mass transit elements and static operational data such as vehicle numbers, drivers, routes, schedules, timetables, and so on.

One of the main challenges in these systems is that since sensors have limited power resources, they cannot perform monitoring tasks over a long period of time. To address this issue, the energy consumption at sensors should be reduced which can be achieved by minimizing the number of data transmissions. More specifically, As sensory observations are highly correlated in time and space domain, some of the collected readings might be redundant. The objective of this project is to propose data reduction schemes that while they minimize the energy consumption of sensors, the quality of data is preserved.

Development of Freshwater Forecasting System using the SWAT-MODFLOW total water budget model

We will design and build a software suite for producing 36-hour forecasts of water flow rates and turbidity (cloudiness) at any point along the channels of the Upper Yellowstone River Watershed (UYRW). This forecasting system will respond to real-time sources of information on weather and upstream sensor readings, and will be designed for continual updates (via automatic daily recalibrations) based on modern statistical techniques. This project will substantially modify an existing software package (SWAT-MODFLOW) by introducing: turbidity forecasting; a more realistic accounting of snow buildup in the mountains; a calibration system designed for real-time updates; and an easy-to-use interface for running simulations and plotting inputs/outputs. The partner organization will be able to use this software for scenario-planning, and to obtain more accurate estimates of watershed metrics – both historical and current — that are crucial to managing human water users (public and private), wildlife, and the environment.

Material Formulation and Sheet Extrusion of Thermoplastic-Graphite Composites for Compression Molding of PEMFC Bipolar Plates

Hydrogen is a clean source of energy with zero greenhouse gas emissions. A very efficient method to obtain power from hydrogen is by using fuel cells, which generate electricity via an electrochemical reaction in which oxygen and hydrogen combine to form water with no harmful emissions. Of the major components of fuel cells are Bipolar Plates, which cost about one-third of the total cost of the fuel cells. As a result, reducing the cost of such components, specifically the manufacturing cost, while maintaining or improving their performance is a primary goal for the producers of fuel cells. Polymer-graphite composites has become the low-cost alternative material for the bipolar plates, currently made of thermoset (e.g. epoxy)-graphite composite materials. Such composite materials must have certain characteristics, but most importantly high electrical conductivity, especially in through-plane direction (TPEC). In addition, they should have an adequate flexural strength and fracture toughness to withstand the manufacture and operators’ handling throughout the processing and postprocessing (grooves making) mold-ability. Other desirable characteristics include: i) lost cost (material cost and conversion cost), and ii) low scrap rate (low rate of failure, especially during assembly, and recyclability).

Pattern Recognition in an Internet of Personal Health (IoPH) Platform

Providing meaningful health and wellness information is important in order to sustain an effective healthcare system in a society. In the last decade, manufacturers have launched a wide range of health monitoring devices. However, these devices provide mainly numbers, e.g. steps and heart beats, without reporting health conditions. Salu Design aims to transform a simple wearable device to a complete interactive personal health monitoring solution that deepens one’s understanding and engagement with individual health, by providing context for health data, answers to personal health questions and meaningful advice to improve conditions. The user is able to communicate with the Salu Design platform interactively. Communication data together with the accumulated back-end data will be processed and analyzed by the platform engine. The objective is to provide users not only numbers, but also the interpretations. The Salu Design Platform will start with its own simple to use and affordable wearable device. Eventually the platform will be available to other wearable devices. The long term goal is to provide health monitoring and solutions to clients internationally through smart wearables.

Next-Gen Amplified Sustainable Agriculture (NASA) – It’s About Space

To mitigate risks of global malnutrition, hunger, and conflict; food production should become more efficient and sustainable. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) can produce higher yields at reduced spatial and environmental footprints. This control improves management of key elements like water, nutrients, and nutritional outcomes. These advantages come with a cost however; of which energy is among the greatest. Greenhouses and vertical farms can have significant thermal management requirements, and increasingly, very large electricity demands. This project radically rethinks how CEA should be designed and implemented at small scales, large scales, and worlds beyond our own. The groundbreaking model-and-maker platform will transcend existing paradigms that historically have constrained CEA to specific locations, configurations, scales, or socioeconomic class. The program aims to 1) transform energy efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability of CEA operations, 2) increase global access to the advantages of CEA, and 3) grow the next generation of amplified agriculturalists.