Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-informations-sur-les-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Oxygenation by efficient air diffusion system for aquaculture farms (cages and earthen ponds) (AIRX)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Research for SMEs
Action type: Research for the benefit of specific groups
Countries involved: Norway,Italy,Greece,Portugal,Portugal
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-09-01
End date: 2014-11-30
Duration (months): 27.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1492602.0
EU funding (EUR): 1162000.0
Participants: 10
Project status: CLOSED

The AirX Research for SMEs project will develop a novel efficient air diffusion system for oxygenation in aquaculture farms. The target market are cage and earthen pond farmers (seabass and seabream) in Mediterranean, which periodically experience problems with reduced growth rate, increased feed conversion factor (FCR), stress and mortality of stock due to low oxygen content in the water (usually in summer/early autumn when biomass in the farms is normally high). Existing aeration devices are not suitable or too expensive to be used efficiently in ponds, whereas for cages there are no realistic options available. At critical periods with low oxygen levels, feeding is reduced and productivity of the industry is heavily influenced. Mortalities may appear accumulated stress may result in decreased appetite and thereby decreased growth, and decreased feed utilization. AirX will reduce cost of oxygenation by 75% from the current 0.25-0.64 EUR/kg O2 to 0.06-0.17 EUR. Using the AirX system to optimize the oxygen level will provide these benefits for the fish farmer: I)Higher growth rate of stock, II) Improvement of feed conversion rate (FCR), III) Higher production capacity at farm site, IV) Reduction of mortalities, especially during periods of high temperature/low oxygen concentration, V) Reduction of fish stress and generally improved fish welfare, VI) Improvement of the carrying capacity in terms of organic load that can be decomposed in the case of fish ponds, and reduced settling of waste beneath cages. The net value of extra biomass produced by using AirX is 254.000 EUR/year per farm site (presumed 20 cages/site and max 40 tonnes/cage). AirX investment cost for such site is estimated to 26.000 EUR/year. The AirX system will consist of a novel diffuser system, air compressor and automation system. The project will develop a functional prototype that will be extensively tested at end-user site. Time-to-market is less than 1 year after project termination.

Keywords: oxygenation,aeration,water treatment,sea water,air diffusion,oxygen transfer
Demonstration of a novel thermo-chemical heat storage system to improve energy-efficiency in CHP power plants and in solar driven industrial applications with high relevance in SMEs (HS-DEMO)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Demonstration Activity
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Germany,Germany,Estonia,Austria
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2014-10-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1142667.0
EU funding (EUR): 657000.0
Participants: 5
Project status: CLOSED

The FP7 R4SME HeatSaver project (Grant Agreement No.: 222116) successfully developed a zeolite based thermo-chemical heat storage concept at an integrated 1000 litre scale with significant advantages compared to SoA technologies in terms of energy density and flexibility. HeatSaver was assessed by the EC Research Executive Agency(REA) as delivering high quality science and technology development: That the project made good progress, achieving most of its objectives and technical goals with only relatively minor deviations. The REA also noted that “further development of the concept would be effective in close collaboration with potential end-users to enable simplification of system components and their optimization”. HS-DEMO will bring HeatSaver RTD results closer to market, within six months of the completion of this project, the SME partners seek to achieve sales of units. This project will result in an industrially and commercially viable thermal storage system that has wide applications. The demonstration project will involve: 1) Industrialisation of the manufacturing process through a Value Engineering approach. 2) Enable economies of scale in manufacture. 3) Validation of a commercially viable process that can be marketed with a reasonable return on investment by customers; requiring the recovery of heat at a cost of less than €50 to €90/MWh. This cost will be an economic target of HS-DEMO. 4) The need to demonstrate the technology over extended periods in industrial locations. Outline agreement has already been obtained for this from power plant company, CHP plants and solar thermal plants. 5) The demonstrations to be shown to relevant potential customers from across industry and across Europe (over 25 visitors), in a format that is able to show it to be of potential to benefit to their respective businesses. 6) Feedback from demonstrations to be collated in a format that enables iterative system enhancement to improve the commercial viability of the process.

Keywords: thermo-chemical heat storage,energy efficiency,heat storage,solar thermal energy,chp-plants
Optimisation of the biotechnological recycling solution for olive washing water (ALGATEC II)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Demonstration Activity
Action type: Collaborative project
Countries involved: Spain,Germany,Italy,Spain,Spain
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1421480.0
EU funding (EUR): 886000.0
Participants: 5
Project status: CLOSED

The ALGATEC II project is a demostration activity based on the promissing results fo the FP7-SME-2008 ALGATEC project (contract n. 232331). During the ALGATEC project, both the lab and field-scale experiments proved that the system was efficient in removing the pollution load of olive mill washing water (WW) and producing water of drinking quality, that could be reused in the process. However, under the current market status in the main olive oil producing countries, the cost of this technology seemed to be quite high to be implemented in a commercial product. The innovative and easy to operate and maintain system developed, based on; a pre-treatment, a photobioreactor (PBR), and two different configurations of membrane modules, was tested using WW stored in an evaporation pond. For treating this WW, more concentrated than the fresh WW, hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 3 days were needed, and this fact increased the final price of the m3 of treated WW. The decreasing of the HRT together with other potential improvements already identified to increase the system efficiency and make it more competitive in the market, are the driven force of the proposed project. 5 European SMEs, from 3 EU countries, 4 partners of the ALGATEC project, together with a new SME especialised in market studies, will work in the optimisation of the system by implementing improvements in the pilot plant located in Spain) to increase the treatment capacity working with fresh WW and better conditions with regards to light, temperature and materials for the PBR, optimising the membrane module by replacing expensive materials, re-designing it, and improving the energy efficency. The control system for both, PBR and membranes, would be optimised to decrease, among others, the labour costs associated to the system O&M. All these measures will lead in the ALGATEC II system, more competitve in the market and that would mean the opening of new market opportunities for the participating SME

Keywords: olive washing water,industrial wastewater treatment,biotechnological recycling,membrane modules,wastewater reuse
Industrialization of a 3 MW Medium-Speed Brushless DFIG Drivetrain for Wind Turbine Applications (WINDRIVE)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Research for SMEs
Action type: Research for the benefit of specific groups
Countries involved: United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Netherlands,Germany,Denmark,Switzerland
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2015-04-30
Duration (months): 30.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1998133.0
EU funding (EUR): 1586998.0
Participants: 7
Project status: CLOSED

This project is for the development and industrialization of a novel medium-speed wind turbine drivetrain (WTDT) designed to have an intrinsically higher reliability than the current most widely used high-speed WTDT, which employs a 3-stage gearbox and doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) with partially-rated converter. The reason that this existing WTDT is so widely employed is that it is cost-effective because it makes use of widely available industrial components and adopts a low-cost partially-rated converter. The proposed medium-speed WTDT leverages the advantages of the existing DFIG WTDT, but also improves upon the intrinsic reliability by adopting: a) Medium-speed Brushless DFIG, excluding brush-gear and slip-rings, known to be the highest failure rate components in the generator; b) Partially-rated converter, identical to the high-speed WTDT; c) 2-stage gearbox, excluding the third high-speed stage, known to be the highest failure rate section of the gearbox. The project aims to move the Brushless DFIG technology from being a promising and proven concept, demonstrated in small-scale, to an optimized industrial-scale drivetrain for multi-MW wind turbines. The Brushless DFIG has been demonstrated on a 20 kW wind turbine and most recently, a 250 kW prototype generator on a test bed. However, in order to make the generator commercially attractive, its performance must be optimized to industrial levels and be demonstrated on a real size drivetrain. Further, its mechanical and electrical integration within a wind turbine system must be optimized with respect to cost, weight and size, including converter, generator, gearbox, controller and associated Condition Monitoring System (CMS). The project will study several aspects of the Brushless DFIG including its design, operation, grid connection, control and condition monitoring with an aim to optimize and improve the drivetrain performance for wind generation. Furthermore, its integration into a WTDT and optimization on a system-level will be carried out. A 3 MW medium-speed Brushless DFIG drivetrain will be designed which will be utilized the follow-on exploitation phase to build and test a 3 MW prototype system.

Keywords: brushless dfig,medium-speed drivetrain,wind turbines,reliability,offshore
Vacuum-assisted high pressure die castings with reduced porosity at low cost (SOUNDCAST)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Research for SMEs
Action type: Research for the benefit of specific groups
Countries involved: France,Spain,Germany,Spain,Switzerland,Germany,Germany
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2015-11-30
Duration (months): 37.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1747861.39
EU funding (EUR): 1114999.95
Participants: 10
Project status: CLOSED

The necessity of preserving resources and to reduce environmental pollution makes light weight concepts and recycling highly interesting for the transportation market, being light weight essential for newly developed electric and hybrid vehicles. At the present, the use of aluminium high pressure die castings for structural applications in the automotive industry is limited due the presence of porosity inherent to the fabrication process. High vacuum processes can reduce porosity significantly, but both the capital investment and the process costs are very high. On the other hand, the use of cheaper adaptable vacuum systems it is still not very popular in SME foundries, despite of significant technological improvements during the last years; this is mainly because of the complexity of this process, the need for improved process stability and deeper metallurgical knowledge of the alloys used in these new applications. The aim of the SOUNDCAST project is to provide the SME die caster with an innovative and environmentally friendly technology to produce sound and weldable high performance castings by a low cost vacuum assisted high pressure die casting (VPDC) process. During the project the link between the most important parameters that enhance porosity will be established, and a versatile technology package which optimizes the whole fabrication process will be developed including: - Numerical simulation of die filling and solidification - Special die design - Use of a “state of the art vacuum” valve - HPDC process parameter optimization - Optimized die and shot sleeve lubrication for welding applications - Development of quality control software - Development of a new recycled alloy(s) with high mechanical properties - Melt and heat treatment optimization for the new recycled alloy(s) - Development of a new laser welding process at reduced pressure The developed know-how and technologies will be demonstrated and validated in SME foundries.

Keywords: high pressure die casting,vacuum,porosity,recycled alloy,structural component,lubrication,welding
Novel Mobile Sonification Process for Local Valorisation of Lignocellulosic (Forest) Materials to produce Valuable Chemicals (BIOSONIC)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Research for SME associations
Action type: Research for the benefit of specific groups
Countries involved: United Kingdom,Croatia,Belgium,Spain,Switzerland,United Kingdom,United Kingdom,Norway,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-01-01
End date: 2015-12-31
Duration (months): 36.0
Total project cost (EUR): 3254094.2
EU funding (EUR): 2462000.0
Participants: 10
Project status: CLOSED

The concept of the Lignocellulosic BioRefinery (LCBR) is gaining ground in the EU, as a way to increase the value obtained from wood waste such as sawdust and chippings, from €50/tonne to potentially as much as €500/tonne. To do this, the LCBR would cleanly fractionate the three components – cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin – without degrading them. (Paper and bioethanol “refineries” create good cellulose at the expense of losing the value of the other two components through harsh reaction conditions). The absence of a non-degrading version of this process step has been quoted as a major barrier to commercialisation at the moment. Our idea is to develop a novel ultrasonically-enhanced separation process that does not require high temperatures or pressures, and is capable of producing pure wood fractions much faster than traditional digestion processes. The consortium consists of 3 SME-AGs who represent the forest operators that will benefit from the technology, and provide direct routes to market for the materials produced. They will train their member forestry SMEs in the operation of the new process, the strategic capacity planning for deployment to give best economy, and forging the relationships with the new supply chains of customers. The SME technology providers in the consortium will develop the technology into a prototype that demonstrated the effectiveness of the process and provides training opportunities for forest operators. The ultrasonic process technology will be scalable for use by single SME foresters, up to local, municipal and wider scale use.

Keywords: sonification,lignocellulose,valuable chemicals,wood biomass,sustainable,mobile
Development of a novel, low-cost fireproof Insulation Material (SHIELD)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Research for SMEs
Action type: Research for the benefit of specific groups
Countries involved: Germany,Türkiye,United Kingdom,Spain,Belgium,Belgium,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2013-03-01
End date: 2015-02-28
Duration (months): 24.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1528628.45
EU funding (EUR): 1194950.32
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

The construction industry routinely experiences environments that demand excellent insulation performance – in terms of high humidity or applications demanding high fire resistance. These environments often present complex shapes and limited and difficult to reach space for such insulation materials. Whilst many insulation materials are available commercially, few combine a wide range of high level performance with a low price based on an excellent processability (spraying/injection). This project aims to address the market ‘gap’ of low-cost, fire-resistant, low-weight insulation materials coupled with excellent processability. It will develop a group of novel insulation materials which exhibit these desirable properties in industrial products by combining clay-nano-composites with supporting additives. The project will develop a suitable processing route for these clay-based insulation materials which minimises production cost by fully automating the spraying/injection production process. The project will develop and test first prototype applications. It will develop a high-performance insulation material offering a combination of: • low thermal conductivity (comparable to aerogel materials), • excellent fire resistance, • ease of processing (sprayable or injectable), • hydrophobicity (long term insulation stability in humid environments), • high durability • and low cost.

Keywords: aeroclay,clay-nanocomposites,geopolymer,injectable in hollow products
Optimum Power Extraction of Wind Energy by Small to Medium Scale Wind Turbines (OPTIWIND)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Research for SMEs
Action type: Research for the benefit of specific groups
Countries involved: United Kingdom,Spain,Spain,Slovenia,United Kingdom,Türkiye,Spain,United Kingdom,United Kingdom
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2015-01-31
Duration (months): 27.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1494530.29
EU funding (EUR): 1159875.0
Participants: 9
Project status: CLOSED

Each member state in the EU-27 now has a legally binding 2020 target related to the share of renewable energy in their final energy consumption. The most commonly available renewable energy sources are hydro, biomass, PV, CSP, Wind, Geothermal & Wave power. Of these wind is increasingly becoming cost competitive and the cost of wind turbines are dropping as volumes increase. This proposal deals with distributed energy production by small to medium wind turbines in the 10kW-100kW range, used immediately close to the point of power production Wind energy conversion is a long standing process that has been employed for hundreds of years, but it is complicated and difficult to capture the maximum possible amount of power at any given point in time. The amount of power output from a WECS depends upon the accuracy with which the peak power points are tracked by the MPPT controller of the WECS control system regardless of the generator type. For any wind turbine the maximum point of the power curve occurs at a particular rotor speed for a given wind speed. Even a small variation from this rotor speed will cause a significant decrease in the power extracted from the wind. Rotor speed, for a given wind speed, is dependent upon generator loading as well as the fluctuation in the wind speed. Power extraction strategies assess the wind conditions and then introduce control actions to adjust the turbine’s rotational speed so that it will operate at the turbine’s highest aerodynamic efficiency. Conversion strategies that have not been optimised can lead to significant wasted wind energy. There have been many attempts to achieve maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms but these have not been successfully translated from academic studies to reliable working industrial implementations in our power range. The focus of this project is to produce an industrial solution that works reliably and can be employed without needing expert users.

Keywords: small to medium wind turbines
Thermochemical pre-treatment technology for residues from breweries and other biomass to enhance anaerobic digestion (THERCHEM)

Framework: FP7 — Capacities
Programme: Research for the benefit of SMEs
Destination: Research for SMEs
Action type: Research for the benefit of specific groups
Countries involved: Austria,Austria,Germany,Austria,Germany,Austria,Switzerland,Germany
Call:  (FP7-SME-2012, 2012)
Start date: 2012-11-01
End date: 2014-12-31
Duration (months): 26.0
Total project cost (EUR): 1046544.0
EU funding (EUR): 712000.0
Participants: 8
Project status: CLOSED

The aim of the project is the development of a thermochemical pre-treatment technology to increase the gas yield of brewers spent grains during an anaerobic digestion process. Thermochemical pre-treatment will be realised in a pressure vessel by addition of sulphuric acid. Pre-treatment of organic biomass will lead to a break down of the complex lignocellulose structure and release oligomeric/monomeric carbohydrate units which will then be better available for degradation by anaerobic digestion. This leads to improved utilization of the substrate and to a higher gas yield per tonne substrate inserted. After the pre-treatment the hydrolysate is digested in multi-stage biogas system. During anaerobic digestion H2S is formed out of sulphur containing compounds of the substrate by the anaerobic and facultative anaerobic bacteria. H2S is volatile and will be found in the biogas. Because of the fact that sulphuric acid is used in the pretreatment step, the H2S concentrations in the biogas will be increased. A clean up of the biogas is in all cases inevitable before feed in into e.g. a gas engine. The gas cleaning will be realised by using a trickle bed system. Here H2S will be converted into H2SO4 by microbiological desulphurisation process. The H2SO4 solution can be recovered for the thermochemical pre-treatment process. After lab scale investigation, a demonstration plant will be constructed and the process will be evaluated at two different breweries. For further application TherChem process will be tested on 5 different substrates in lab scale.

Keywords: thermochemical pre-treatment,increasing availability of biomass,desulphurisation,biogas,brewers spent grains,lignocellulose