The National Centre for Research and Development has announced the results of the competitions for Polish-Norwegian research projects. Researchers from Wrocław University of Science and Technology will take part in research including an innovative hybrid power plant and a mobile air monitoring system.

POLNOR 2019 and POLNOR CCS 2019 are competitions financed under the third edition of the Norwegian and European Economic Area (EEA) Funds for the years 2014-2021 under the "Applied Research" programme. The competitions attach key importance to implementation initiatives, so the selection of projects to be financed was determined not only by their scientific value but also the possibility of applying a specific solution in practice. Over 90 Polish-Norwegian consortia applied for the grants.

As part of the POLNOR CCS 2019 competition, the Faculty of Mechanical and Power Engineering will implement the project named "A gas-fired power plant with negative CO2 emission", which concerns the analysis and elaboration of an innovative concept of a hybrid power plant using oxygen syngas from high-temperature gasification of pre-valorised biomass, e.g. sewage sludge, in the gas turbine.

The primary aim of the project is to develop an optimal power plant cycle, i.e. the production of electricity with negative carbon dioxide emissions integrated with the CCS and/or CCU (Carbon Capture Storage/ Carbon Capture Utilisation) technologies. Negative CO2 emissions will be achieved by the fact that part of the carbon dioxide intended for storage will come from a renewable source.

The project is carried out in a consortium of Polish universities and companies comprising Gdańsk University of Technology, Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery Gdańsk, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology, IASE – Wrocław, and Norwegian universities – Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Univesitet Trondheim and SINTEF Energi AS Institute – as well as the company BROS Control.

The research group from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Machinery, Instrumentation, and Energy Processes is responsible for the analysis and optimisation of sewage sludge valorisation processes for the generation of syngas co-fired in a gas turbine and the disposal and/or sequestration system.

Planned to run for 36 months,  the project will have a total budget of 20 million PLN, of which 3,560 thousand PLN is a subsidy for the Wrocław University of Science and Technology team.

The project "A highly accurate and autonomous programmable platform for the delivery of air pollution data provision services to drivers and public entities” (HAPADS) will be carried out at the Department of Applied Computer Science at the Faculty of Computer Science and Management.

– It’s an ambitious project aimed at designing and building an innovative mobile air monitoring system that will enable end-users to make data-based decisions to reduce the exposure to air pollution by staff and society based on data – says Krystian Wojtkiewicz, PhD, Eng. from the Department of Applied Computer Science.

The system comprises the development of the device, preparation of data acquisition, analysis, and the user interface. It will be designed not only for drivers, transport companies, or municipalities but also for all residents.

The consortium working on the project consists of Gdańsk University of Technology, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology, Norwegian Institute for Air Research, the University of Tromso, the Arctic University of Norway, and the company Logistics Enhancement Systems and Services.

The total value of the project, to be carried out over 36 months, amounts to about 1.5 million EUR, 150 thousand EUR of which is the grant for Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

Under the Norwegian competition programme, young scientists’ ideas were given a separate evaluation. Seven consortia received funding in this category, including one with the participation of researchers from Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

The project named “Shortened nitrification in activated sludge used for wastewater treatment - a key solution for climate-neutral wastewater treatment" will be implemented by young scientists from the Faculty of Environmental Engineering.

Apart from our university, the consortium also included the Silesian University of Technology, MPWiK Wrocław (the municipal water management company), Aquateam COWI AS, and AQUANET.