Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Smart light collecting system for the efficiency enhancement of solar cells (EPHOCELL)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Energy
Destination: Horizontal programme actions
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Spain,Italy,Ireland,Germany,Israel,Bulgaria
Call:  (FP7-ENERGY-NMP-2008-1, 2008)
Start date: 2009-02-01
End date: 2013-01-31
Duration (months): 48.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3456879.2
EU funding (EUR): 2500293.72
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

The main objective of this project is the study of the various intra and intermolecular energy transfers with the aims to modify the solar spectrum by means of an adequate molecular system. This will permit to improve the similitude between the solar radiation and the absorbance of the photovoltaic materials. This change of spectrum must be realized without significant loss of energy by means of energy up and down-conversion cascades supported by a photoluminescent compound able to emit in the maximum absorption band of the photovoltaic material. The concentration of the solar light wavelength in the absorption band of the photovoltaic material may determine an increase in the number of photons able to excite the photovoltaic compound. This will result in an improvement of the electrical energy delivered by the solar cell. The research and development to be realized during this project will be essentially centred on the studies of molecular mix able to generate adequate energy cascades and their evaluation in terms of efficiency and chemical stability. Another part of the work will consist in the development of coatings or plastics containing such molecular systems to be directly applied on the solar cells superficies for an in situ evaluation of the results and for a quick emergence of such light concentrating devices.

Keywords: photovoltaic energy,up-conversion,polymers,efficiency upgrade,novel nanomaterials,photoluminescence
EUROPEAN FACILITY FOR AIRBORNE RESEARCH IN ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOSCIENCE (EUFAR)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research Infrastructures
Destination: Support to existing research infrastructures
Action type: Combination of CP & CSA
Countries involved: France,United Kingdom,Germany,Belgium,Germany,United Kingdom,Netherlands,Germany,France,Spain,Finland,Germany,Germany,Germany,Italy,Hungary,United Kingdom,Germany,Poland,France,France,United Kingdom,Belgium,Switzerland,Netherlands,Czechia,Israel,Germany,United Kingdom,Germany,Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-INFRASTRUCTURES-2008-1, 2008)
Start date: 2008-10-01
End date: 2013-09-30
Duration (months): 60.0
Total project cost (EUR): 9657391.26
EU funding (EUR): 8000000.0
Participants: 34
Project status: CLOSED

EUFAR is the Integrating Activity for airborne research in Geo-science. It will integrate the airborne community, to ensure that researchers may have access to the most suited infrastructure they need, irrespective of the location of the infrastructure. The EUFAR consortium comprises 32 legal entities. 14 operators of airborne facilities, and 18 experts in airborne research. They contribute to 9 Networking Activities, Trans-national Access to 26 installations, and 3 Joint Research Activities. A Scientific Advisory Committee, constituted of eminent scientists, contributes to a better integration of the users with the operators to tackle new user driven developments. Transnational Access coordination aims at providing a wider and more efficient access to the infrastructures. The working group for the Future of the Fleet fosters the joint development of airborne infrastructures in terms of capacity and performance. The Expert Working Groups facilitate a wider sharing of knowledge and technologies across fields. The activity for Education and Training provides training courses to new users. The working group on Standards and Protocols contributes to better structure the way research infrastructures operate. The development of a distributed data base for airborne activities improves the access to the data collected by the aircraft. All these activities rely on an unique web portal to airborne research in Europe. The working group on the Sustainable Structure aims at promoting solutions for the long term sustainability of EUFAR. Among the JRA, one will develop and characterize airborne hygrometers, the second one will develop and implement quality layers in the processing chains of hyperspectral imagery, and the third one will develop an airborne drop spectrometer based on a new principle.

Keywords: airborne research infrastructures,environmental and geo-science,hyperspectral imagery,climate change and air quality
Nanodesigned electrochemical converter of solar energy into hydrogen hosting natural enzymes or their mimics (SOLHYDROMICS)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Energy
Destination: Horizontal programme actions
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Italy,United Kingdom,Germany,Switzerland,Belgium,Italy
Call:  (FP7-ENERGY-2008-FET, 2008)
Start date: 2009-01-01
End date: 2012-06-30
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3655827.74
EU funding (EUR): 2779679.0
Participants: 7
Project status: CLOSED

Leaves can split water into oxygen and hydrogen at ambient conditions exploiting sun light. Prof. James Barber, one of the key players of SOLHYDROMICS, was the recipient of the international Italgas Prize in 2005 for his studies on Photosystem II (PSII), the enzyme that governs this process. In photosynthesis, H2 is used to reduce CO2 and give rise to the various organic compounds needed by the organisms or even oily compounds which can be used as fuels. However, a specific enzyme, hydrogenase, may lead to non-negligible H2 formation even within natural systems under given operating conditions. Building on this knowledge, and on the convergence of the work of the physics, materials scientists, biochemists and biologists involved in the project, an artificial device will be developed to convert sun energy into H2 with 10% efficiency by water splitting at ambient temperature, including: -) an electrode exposed to sunlight carrying PSII or a PSII-like chemical mimic deposited upon a suitable electrode -) a membrane enabling transport of both electrons and protons via e.g. carbon nanotubes or TiO2 connecting the two electrodes and ion-exchange resins like e.g. Nafion, respectively -) a cathode carrying the hydrogenase enzyme or an artificial hydrogenase catalyst in order to recombine protons and electrons into pure molecular hydrogen at the opposite side of the membrane The project involves a strong and partnership hosting highly ranked scientists (from the Imperial College London, the Politecnico di Torino and the GKSS research centre on polymers in Geesthacht) who have a significant past cooperation record and four high-tech SMEs (Solaronix, Biodiversity, Nanocyl and Hysytech) to cover with expertise and no overlappings the key tasks of enzyme purification and enzyme mimics development, enzyme stabilisation on the electrodes, membrane development, design and manufacturing of the SOLHYDROMICS proof-of-concept prototype, market and technology implementation studies

Keywords: solar energy,hydrogen,photosystem ii,hydrogenase,nafion,carbon nanotubes,titanium dioxide
The Production of Sustainable Diesel-Miscible-Biofuels from the Residues and Wastes of Europe and Latin America (DIBANET)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Energy
Destination: Renewable fuel production
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Ireland,United Kingdom,Greece,Hungary,Brazil,Argentina,Chile,Denmark,Ireland
Call:  (FP7-ENERGY-2008-1, 2008)
Start date: 2009-07-01
End date: 2013-03-31
Duration (months): 45.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4818198.46
EU funding (EUR): 3734576.0
Participants: 14
Project status: CLOSED

The increasing reliance on imported diesel fuels, in addition to annual increases in the quantities of organic wastes are threats to the EU and Latin America. This project (DIBANET) will combat these threats and help to eliminate diesel imports by developing novel technologies that will allow the sustainable production of diesel miscible biofuels from wastes. It will build on the key, complementary, strengths of researchers and industries of both regions to advance this field. This enhancement of co-operation will ensure that the whole process, from feedstock to process residues, is engineered for maximum efficiency. The links between regions will be further enhanced by the establishment of inter-regional student scholarships; 2 large brokerage events to engage all stakeholders; and a summer school for knowledge transfer. DIBANET will increase the yield from biomass, beyond the current art, of levulinic acid, a valuable platform chemical that can be combined with ethanol to make a diesel fuel. Processes will be advanced to utilise the solid residue that remains after the acid-treatment. From this residue treatment process a bio-oil and biochar will result. The bio-oil will be upgraded to produce a diesel miscible biofuel. The biochar will be examined for use as a soil amender for enhanced biomass yields. Advanced analytical techniques to benefit levulinic acid yields will be developed and employed online to allow real-time adjustment of biomass conversion conditions. All of the fuels produced will be tested to ensure compliance with current fuel requirements.

Keywords: biofuel,diesel,co-operation,lignocellulose,biorefining,pyrolysis,biooil,upgrading,characterisation,sustainability
In silico Rational Engineering of Novel Enzymes (IRENE)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology
Destination: Life sciences, biotechnology and biochemistry for sustainable non-food products and processes
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Italy,Sweden,Denmark,Netherlands,Denmark,Uzbekistan,Russian Federation
Call:  (FP7-KBBE-2008-2B, 2008)
Start date: 2009-04-01
End date: 2012-03-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 5186379.0
EU funding (EUR): 1999995.0
Participants: 11
Project status: CLOSED

IRENE project aims at overcoming existing bottlenecks for a broader diffusion of biocatalysis and at accelerating the sustainable innovation of chemical industry by developing computational methods and strategies that will enable to rationally design and produce the next generation of biocatalysts for industrial applications. The consortium is funded on the combination of robust multidisciplinary expertise from EU, Russia and Uzbekistan. Due to the interaction between theoretical groups and experimentalists all computational tools used in this project will be validated by experiments. Failures and successes will be used for methods’ evaluation and tuning, in an iterative process that will lead to new methods but also to the definition of practical guidelines, for any specific enzyme design issue. The convergence of different expertise will face 4 main tasks: 1) fast rational design of efficient biocatalysts; 2) fast and efficient in silico screening of available enzymes/mutants to exploit catalytic potential of existing biocatalyst and providing quantitative parameters describing enzyme’s efficiency; 3) fast substrate-screening and rational substrate engineering; 4) understanding molecular basis of biocatalyst’ action and properties. IRENE will pursue these objectives by taking advantage of computational strategies used in different disciplines and integrate them in an unified concept for studying enzyme catalysis. The four main families of computational methods, Quantum Mechanics, Molecular Mechanics, Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships and Bioinformatics, will used in an integrated approach. The project will have three major design subjects: 1) introduction of new activities in specific enzyme scaffolds (reaction promiscuity); 2) improvement of catalytic activity towards specific targets (substrate promiscuity); 3) the redesign of enantioselectivity. For each subject the work will focus on different specific enzymatic activities of industrial relevance.

Keywords: sustainable chemistry,biocatalysis,enzyme engineering,molecular modeling,computational chemistry,quantum mechanics,molecular mechanics,qsar,bioinformatics,multivariate statistics,hydrolases
Contained Molecular Farming – Controllable Contained Systems for High Yield and Consistency (COMOFARM)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology
Destination: Life sciences, biotechnology and biochemistry for sustainable non-food products and processes
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Germany,Switzerland,Finland,Germany,United Kingdom,Germany,Netherlands,Germany,United States
Call:  (FP7-KBBE-2008-2B, 2008)
Start date: 2009-06-01
End date: 2012-12-31
Duration (months): 43.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4403111.6
EU funding (EUR): 2834797.0
Participants: 10
Project status: CLOSED

The CoMoFarm project will establish high-yielding production systems for pharmaceutical and industrial proteins based on plants, plant tissue and plant cells. The aim is to develop systems in which both the production host and the product itself show consistent yield and quality. The project will include a comparison of four alternative systems – hydroponic plants, root cultures, moss and suspension cells, and will involve the evaluation of different species, strain and process optimization, scale-up, downstream processing, protein characterization and process evaluation in terms of regulatory compliance. As well as furthering the development of an emerging production technology, the project will incorporate numerous innovative elements such as in-process monitoring and automation of environmental parameters to maintain a consistent environment and optimize protein yield and homogeneity, novel downstream processing technologies and innovative bioreactor and hydroponic designs to maintain plant health and ensure production according to good manufacturing practice. This project will have an immense impact on the biopharmaceuticals industry, by allowing SMEs interested in molecular farming to develop plant-made pharmaceuticals without worrying about regulatory constraints or poor investment prospects. This will go a long way to establishing molecular farming as a feasible industry within Europe, and will open new revenue streams for companies currently not interested in (or aware of) molecular farming, e.g. horticulture companies and nurseries. The cost of drugs will also begin to fall, which will positively re-enforce the benefits of plants and lead to greater growth in the market.

Keywords: automated protein production systems,downstream processing,non-invasive monitoring,plant-based production platforms
A Method for On-Line Cleaning of Heat Exchangers to Significantly Increase Energy Efficiency in the Oil, Gas, Power & Chemical Process Sectors. (CLEANEX)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Energy
Destination: Energy efficiency and savings
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: United Kingdom,Germany,United Kingdom,Poland,Israel
Call:  (FP7-ENERGY-2008-1, 2008)
Start date: 2009-09-01
End date: 2013-02-28
Duration (months): 42.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3969612.83
EU funding (EUR): 2996838.0
Participants: 5
Project status: CLOSED

Fouling of heat exchangers in refining industry crude oil preheat trains is a chronic operating problem that reduces heat transfer and energy recovery in these systems costing the industry $4.5 billion per annum. Eight percent of industrial plant operating costs may be attributed to heat exchanger fouling. Despite enormous costs associated with fouling, the industry relies on off-line cleaning because there are no on-line systems capable of operating under high temperature, low velocity conditions with chemically reactive fluids. The cost of taking plant off-line inevitably means that the heat exchanger operates at significantly less than peak efficiency. Our proposed solution is to develop an innovative projectile based on-line cleaning and injection system that will work under the required operating conditions to mitigate foulant build-up throughout the heat exchanger. Achieving our objectives will require research to formulate accurate correlations of foulant deposition rate as a function of geometry and operating conditions, the development of a composite projectile material to achieve the required mechanical properties and chemical stability as well as a projectile trajectory control system to deliver a uniform distribution of projectiles over the heat exchanger tube-face. Furthermore; ensuring that projectiles are propelled through the heat exchanger tubes in a low velocity regime will require us to devise a means to temporarily increase flow velocity through selected heat exchanger tubes. Research will concentrate on characterizing foulant deposition mechanism, structure and rate, projectile tribology as well as gaining a detailed understanding of heat exchanger fluid flow and its control. The proposed solution will provide the industry with significant energy savings of over 10% and reduce the CO2 foot print across a wide range of industrial sectors.

Keywords: heat exchanger fouling,fouling mitigation,fouling cleaning,cleaning projectile,high temperature,projectile injection,selective variable flow,electromagnetic
All-inorganic nano-rod based thin-film solarcells on glass (ROD-SOL)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies - NMP
Destination: Materials
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Switzerland,Hungary,Austria,Finland,Germany,United States,Slovenia,Germany
Call:  (FP7-ENERGY-NMP-2008-1, 2008)
Start date: 2009-01-01
End date: 2011-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4075102.4
EU funding (EUR): 2699842.0
Participants: 11
Project status: CLOSED

Thin film solar cells, based on non-toxic, abundant and air-stable silicon (Si) will probably, based on forecasts, dominate the photovoltaic market in the future and thus replace bulk Si from its leading position. This prognosis is fostered by the strong cost reduction potential due to highly effective materials utilization at low energy consumption. However, thin film Si suffers from inherently small grains, which limits efficiencies to ~10% due to carrier recombination at grain boundaries. A radical innovation of the Si thin film materials synthesis route is needed to circumvent this problem. ROD_SOL aims at the synthesis of Si nano-rods, densely packed at sufficiently large diameters (few 100 nm's) and lengths (>1µm for sufficient carrier absorption in indirect semiconductors) directly on cheap substrates like glass or flexible metal foils. The idea is to grow Si nano-rods from the gas phase that are inherently defect free, with a wrapped around pn-junction that bares the potential to decouple absorption of light from charge transport by allowing lateral diffusion of minority carriers to the pn-junction, which is at most a few hundred nm away, rather than a few µm as in conventional thin film solar cells. That way, efficiencies as in bulk Si are expectable, however, with the advantage that the 'nano-rod carpet' layer, is at most a few µm thick. A 'nano-rod carpet' that thin shows a strongly increased optical absorption. Thus, the 'nano-rod carpet' is not only the active solar cell element but at the same time its own light trapping structure. For synthesis of the nano-rods, development of suitable contact materials and characterization of physical and structural properties four experienced research institutes have joined forces. Despite the fundamental materials research to be in focus, three companies joined the consortium to directly test and implement the novel materials and processes in a well proven, industrially viable thin film solar cell concept.

Keywords: photovoltaic,thin film solar cell,nano-rods,silicon,metal oxide contacts
PERFluorinated Organics in Our Diet (PERFOOD)

Framework: FP7 — Cooperation
Programme: Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology
Destination: Fork to farm: Food (including seafood), health and well being
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Netherlands,Sweden,Germany,Norway,Italy,Czechia,Belgium,Germany,Netherlands
Call:  (FP7-KBBE-2008-2B, 2008)
Start date: 2009-08-01
End date: 2012-11-30
Duration (months): 40.0
Total project cost (EUR): 4011390.0
EU funding (EUR): 2999432.0
Participants: 10
Project status: CLOSED

Proposal summary Anthropogenic perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have recently gained socio-economic and scientific interest. PFCs constitute a newly emanating group of environmental contaminants, with physico-chemical as well as toxicological properties different from those of other halogenated compounds. PFCs are generally persistent in the environment, and can be found over a broad concentration range and within most parts of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Food, produced with natural ingredients, and possibly beverages, including drinking water, are likely to be contaminated with PFCs, giving rise to human exposure. Whether or not industrial food processing and packaging may give rise to additional contamination of food and beverages is currently not understood. Whatever the sources, PFCs have indeed been found to be present at a global scale in blood of the general population. PERFOOD brings together the institutes most renowned in Europe and the Globe for their chemical analytical work on PFCs with experts in food consumption and drinking water quality as well as food processing and packaging. The aims of the present project are to develop robust and reliable analytical tools including reference materials for the determination of PFCs in food items, and to use these to (i) qualify and quantify PFCs in our diet, employing a large European sampling campaign; (ii) understand how PFCs are transferred from the environment into dietary items, and (iii) quantify the possible contribution of food/beverage contact materials and food and water processing to the overall PFC levels in our diet. The newly gained knowledge will enable us to evaluate the possible routes, including their relative importance, of human exposure to PFCs via our diet, to assess the role of the technosphere in the contamination of our food, and to identify ways to reduce the PFC contamination of dietary articles.

Keywords: food contaminants,human exposure,food analysis,exposure model