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High efficiency at low firing intensity is important for the environmentally friendly use of stoves in low-energy houses. SINTEF is collaborating with the Norwegian stove manufacturer Dovre on a project concerning wood-burning stoves for low loads and extended burning times. The aim is to construct a stove that will only need to be refuelled every four hours. In the 1990s, new wood-firing technology raised the efficiency of traditional wood-burning stoves from 40 to 80 per cent, while reducing particle emissions by more than 75 per cent. Since then, new regulations regarding insulation thickness and heat loss in houses have reduced the amount of heat that wood-burning stoves need to produce.
Lamb will keep twice as long as today if new research provides the results that scientists are hoping for. NTNU and SINTEF are developing methods for rapid freezing of the fresh meat to just below its freezing point. This kind of cooling gives the meat a longer shelf life than conventional cooling – without the customer finding that the meat has been deep frozen, and without deteriorating in flavour.
Healthy children in spite of mercury |
Female dentists and dental assistants who may have been exposed to mercury vapour give birth to healthy children at the same rate as people who have not been exposed, according to an NTNU study that investigated Norwegian birth records from 1967 to 2006. The data included about 4500 dental assistants and 1000 dentists, and showed no differences between these and the general population in terms of birth defects, birth weight, prematurity, gender, multiple births, stillbirths or foetal deaths.
Smart grids and renewables records |
The EU wants electricity distribution systems that can use more solar and wind energy – and has given SINTEF a key role in preparing for them. The tools at hand are a smart power grid and a range of financial “carrots”. With the aid of these tools, 2000 electricity customers on the Danish island of Bornholm are being tempted to reduce their power consumption when the wind is either too weak or too strong for the wind turbines on the island to generate electricity.
All this is part of the demonstration project EcoGrid EU, a EUR 160 million project that is being coordinated by SINTEF Energy Research in Trondheim. Sixteen partners from ten countries are members of the project.
The project will raise the ceiling for how far an electricity grid can use unpredictable sources such as wind and sun.
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Photo: J.C. Tandberg/Scanpix
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The terrorist bomb that devastated government buildings in Oslo on 22 July 2011 has increased awareness of how important it is to have safe buildings.
NTNU has hired a professor to work on making Norway more secure against terrorism, industrial accidents and natural disasters.
Tore Børvik has broad expertise in civil security, and will help with teaching and research on how materials and structures behave under rapid loading.
Abdominal fat increases the risk of asthma |
Obese people have a one-and-a-half times greater risk of developing asthma than individuals of normal weight. If the weight is carried as belly fat, the risk is even higher. NTNU researchers discovered this trend after following 25 000 people over a decade. A preliminary hypothesis is that abdominal fat may be linked to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome – both of which seem to play a role in the development of asthma.
Published april, 2012 |
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Photo: J.C. Tandberg/Scanpix
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India has 1.2 billion people, more and more of whom own a car. NTNU and Hydro will help with the development of a modern sustainable Indian automotive industry through the use of aluminium and other light metals. Aluminium in a car costs more than steel, but leads to lower energy consumption, CO2 emissions and improved air quality. During the “India 2011” festival, researchers from NTNU and from India met with representatives from Hydro and leaders from the Indian car giant Tata Motors to discuss future cooperative efforts.
All production of oil and natural gas requires complicated separation processes. The current separators are large, expensive and inflexible. In cooperation with a number of other scientists, NTNU researchers Maria Fernandino and Carlos Dorao have developed a new solution: A hybrid centrifuge, which uses centrifugal force to separate liquid from gas streams. It is extremely small, lightweight and compact, and is the only known solution that does not need to be changed for varying gas properties. The technology is now protected by several patents.
‘Regatta Fisherman’ - an ‘oilskin’ that incorporates a buoyancy element, was developed six years ago.
The oilskin suit was developed by a cooperative project that brought together SINTEF, lifejacket manufacturer Regatta, the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association and Gjensidige Insurance.
So far, the suit has saved at least ten fishermen from drowning, and it is currently being adopted by more and more countries.
Plastic packaging out of wood |
A wood fibre only 100 nanometres thick will help to give us tomorrow’s plastic food packaging, if SINTEF and its partners are successful. Most of today’s plastics are petroleum-based, but now scientists are trying to create a climate-friendly alternative to plastics. The background of the project is that the European Union has the ambition to make Europeans healthier by offering them more fish and seafood. Packaging that prolongs the shelf life of food can help to persuade more consumers to choose healthier alternatives and at the same time, reduce food waste. In the Nano-Barrier project, 15 participants are testing renewable resources as bioplastic and microfibrillated cellulose.
More efficient energy use in India |
Three projects involving Norwegian and Indian partners are being supported to the tune of NOK 18 million by the Research Council of Norway. The topics range from geothermal energy and carbon capture and storage to wave-power plants, and SINTEF is leading two of the projects. One of them will perform modelling and laboratory trials aimed at improving heat extraction from the ground, increasing CO2 underground storage capacity and enhancing natural gas recovery rates. The other will use advanced mathematical modelling techniques to exploit India’s wave-power potential. The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute is leading efforts to demonstrate how geothermal energy can be practically exploited and how heat can be stored underground.
Could European air traffic controllers manage more flights with the help of modern productivity gains?
Experts from Austria and Norway intend to answer that question. SINTEF and Frequentis, an Austrian company, have won pan-European funding to investigate whether productivity in airport tower control rooms can be improved via approaches that have revolutionized other industries, such as car factories and banks. Together, they will find out whether it is possible to apply best practices from productivity improvement in air traffic control rooms without sacrificing safety. Their investigation is part of a research project called Zero Failure Management at Maximum Productivity in Safety Critical Control Rooms (ZeFMaP).
New tool to combat pipeline leaks |
More than 30 years of SINTEF research on fracture mechanics has resulted in LINKpipe, a new software tool designed to help elimimate fractures and thus leaks in offshore pipelines.
The need for analyses of this type is rising as pipelines are laid at ever greater depths in regions with challenging seabed topography. The new tool will also improve safety margins in the wake of damage caused by anchor impacts. The software has been developed partly in the course of two joint industry projects; Fracture Control Offshore Pipeline 1 and 2, undertaken in collaboration with Statoil, a number of other oil companies and pipe-laying contractors.
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