Projects / Programmes
January 1, 2022
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 2.03.00 |
Engineering sciences and technologies |
Energy engineering |
|
| 2.13.00 |
Engineering sciences and technologies |
Process engineering |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 2.03 |
Engineering and Technology |
Mechanical engineering |
Energy; Energy engineering; Batteries; Fuel cells; Electromobility; Processes for waste streams; Cavitation; Wastewater treatment; Waste-to-energy; Thermochemical conversion; Combustion; Gasification; Carbon capture; Acoustics; Noise control; Life cycle assessment; Modelling
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
December 2, 2023;
A3 for period
2017-2021
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
473 |
7,691 |
6,633 |
14.02 |
| Scopus |
573 |
9,768 |
8,480 |
14.8 |
Researchers (37)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
With an aim to successfully tackle the ongoing energy transition, the Research Programme Energy Engineering is fully focused on the green and digital transformation of the energy and mobile sector. To address this highly interdisciplinary challenge, the Research Programme develops innovative methodologies, approaches and tools for high-impact contributions in key intertwined Research Areas: -Innovative multi-scale models and scale bridging approaches elucidating the causal interrelations of phenomena in batteries and fuel cells and forming the basis for a radical paradigm shift in battery innovation, which will lead to a significant speed-up in development time. -Next generation battery and fuel cell SoX observers for Charge, Operational Condition, Health, and Function based on innovative physiochemically consistent reduced order models to achieve unprecedented monitoring and control functionalities. -Environmentally invisible thermochemical conversion concepts, focused on single-digit emission combustion technologies and innovative horizontally implementable gasification processes, fully redeveloped for emerging energy carriers and ensuring futureproof compliance with the strictest environmental regulations. -Resource efficiency driven treatment processes for waste streams based on breakthrough designs of multipurpose cavitation devices integrated in new circular waste management approaches yielding lower overall energy consumption. -Radically innovative technologies for CO2 upcycling based on integrated, multifunctional solutions, intertwining cavitation, sorption and combustion phenomena resulting in extensive simplification of CCSU processes. -Innovative unsupervised algorithms developed for vibroacoustic event classification and elucidating the physical mechanisms of internal damping within granular materials with the objective of developing new types of metamaterials for low frequency noise control and abatement. -New life cycle assessment inventories and eco-innovation based on innovative workflows comprising numerical, experimental, or semi-empirical models to significantly advance decision-making tools for assessing environmental, economic and social impacts. These interdisciplinary Research Areas are fully aligned with EU and national policies and strategic plans. The Research Areas are strategically designed to foster development of ground-breaking contributions far beyond incremental innovation and to open new horizons in the field of energy engineering science and technology. They are also designed to maximise the economic impact through the technology transfer to national and international industrial partners. A significant social impact of the Research Programme arises from comprehensive international dissemination of results, from dissemination through the educational process and from the active participation in creating national and international roadmaps ultimately proving the relevance and impact of the conducted research.
Significance for science
Research Programme Energy Engineering fully focuses on the green and digital transformation of the energy and mobile sector. Energy Engineering, being one of the key enablers of this transition, inspires research group members to foster innovative methodologies, approaches, and tools to tackle persistent and emerging challenges in the areas of climate, energy, materials, and mobility. This clear vision and awareness of the importance to solve relevant and critical challenges that society is facing clearly define the research focus of the Research Programme and resultantly its importance for development of innovative scientific and technological approaches. The Research Programme thus provides the basic horizontal knowledge pillar for creating new knowledge and added value through synergetic activities in interdisciplinary areas. Relevance of these scientific developments is confirmed through a full alignment of the strategy of the Research Programme with the EU policy and The Strategic Plan and thus innovative technological approaches will contribute to achieving objectives of several Missions in Horizon Europe. Furthermore, to efficiently support the creation of innovative products and collaboration with the industry to efficiently bridge the TRL gap, the Research Programme will be engaged in the entire research chain from basic research to product industrialisation, which imposes further scientific and technical challenges that will be addressed by the Research Programme. Tackling of such ambitious goals is possible only in the interdisciplinary and international environment, which is another merit of the Research Programme, which is very well integrated in the international and interdisciplinary research. This is confirmed thorough collaboration with top international partners and participation in most prestigious international projects. These ambitious and high-level challenges that Research Programme will resolve inherently call for generation of innovative scientific and innovative technological approaches. In the area of Innovative multi-scale models and scale bridging approaches we will deliver new modelling tools and methods that will significantly contribute to elucidating the multi-scale challenges and causal interrelations in electrochemical devices through innovative scale bridging methodologies. This will enable bidirectional crossing between scales, which is crucial for accelerating the virtually supported R&D of batteries and fuel cells from the material to the device level. These new methods enable moving away from traditional trial-and-error based development processes to large-scale and high-throughput characterisation and autonomous synthesis robotics. In the area of Next generation SoX observers and cyber-physical systems for batteries and fuel cells, physiochemically consistent reduced order models will be derived. This consistent mapping, which is valid for all amplitudes and both time and frequency domains, impacts the entire EIS community by enabling more adequate interrelation between measured values and inherent battery and fuel cell properties. In addition, in the area of batteries, innovative mapping approaches close the long-standing knowledge gap between different modelling approaches, e.g. PNP and Newman type models for batteries. In the area of Environmentally invisible thermochemical conversion concepts a series of enabling, physically accurate combustion and gasification models for new energy carriers provides a basis for future oriented research in a wide range of scientific investigations. This is further supported with an experimental proof of concept demonstrating new reactivity and mixture controlled combustion concepts advancing development of science. In the area of Resource efficiency driven treatment processes for waste streams different processes will be combined in an innovative way where firstly, the fundamental principles of cavitation will be investigated resulting in a more profound understanding of wastewater and waste sludge treatment. Secondly, a unique coupling of waste sludge incineration and drying with fume gasses will resourcefully use energy that would otherwise be wasted. Finally, research on the possibility of upcycling end product-ash for mineral wool production will be conducted. In the area of Innovative technologies for CO2 upcycling high-gain research will for the first time merge the area of cavitation research with aftertreatment processes. This will result in an extensive possibility for new research developments on the pioneering concept for the simultaneous abatement of both CO2 and toxic pollutants in post-combustion products with the possibility to redefine the existing CCSU approaches. In the area of Vibroacoustic energy dissipation in granular metamaterials for the management of noise annoyance a breakthrough is expected through the research of unsupervised classification algorithms for vibroacoustic events. This breakthrough will be implemented in further research of a new physical mechanism describing the vibroacoustic energy dissipation in granular metamaterial, enabling the development of new elements for low frequency noise abatement, and hence noise annoyance reduction. In the area of New life cycle assessment inventories and eco-design innovative workflows comprising numerical, experimental, and semi-empirical models will be integrated into life cycle assessment methodology to significantly advance the decision-making tools for assessing the environmental, economic, and social impacts of products, processes or technologies investigated. This approach will enable to achieve more credible results that will enable holistic evaluation of the observed technologies, give qualitive information in the back-loop of the technology/process design phase and follow all directives and EU legislation in the field of sustainable development and environmental impacts.
Significance for the country
The Research Programme Energy Engineering will focus on fostering innovative methodologies, approaches, and tools to tackle persistent and emerging challenges of the green and digital transformation of the energy and mobile sector. A strong focus and awareness of the importance of solving the critical challenges that society is facing today clearly focuses the research of the Research Programme Energy Engineering towards providing innovative solutions that significantly contribute to achieving the goals outlined in the Green Deal, Renewable energy directive, Industrial Emissions Directive, Energy Efficiency directive, the EU Water Framework, and the Directive on assessment methods for harmful effects of environmental noise. Thereby, the strategy of the RP is fully aligned with the EU policy of The Strategic Plan 2021-2024 and its key strategic orientations for a greater impact, ensuring that the research and innovation funded by the EU will address the challenges faced by Europeans. With this vision and strategy, the RP also contributes to achieving the objectives of several Missions in Horizon Europe, i.e., smart climate-neutral cities; healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters; and soil, health, and food, and thus represents the nucleus of these activities in Slovenia. To efficiently support the creation of innovative products and collaboration with the industry to efficiently bridge the TRL gap known as the "valley of death", the RP will be engaged in the entire research chain from basic research to product industrialisation, which will further strengthen its forefront position in knowledge transfer and impact. In addition, intensified activity in the area of IPR protection is one of the focal areas of the Research Programme, as it enables even more efficient support of the development and creation of innovative products. The Research Programme already has a track record in these activities since some of our patents are already owned by industrial partners and protect the IPR of their innovative products. This vision and strategy ensure a clear commitment of the Research Programme to significantly contribute to the socioeconomic development of Slovenia. This vision is based on a very solid basis, since R&D revenues of the Research Programme exceed 80% while more than 20% of these revenues are from industry funded projects, which clearly confirms that the members of the Research Programme are dedicated to the swift implementation of scientific advances into applications. This is quantitatively further reflected through a very high number of direct industrial projects with national (nearly all the largest exporting Slovene companies, as for example Gorenje, Kolektor, BSH, Hidria, Domel, HSE, Knauf, Akrapovič, Danfoss Trata, Litostroj Power…) and international partners (selected: AVL List GmbH, Rimac Automobili, Denso Corporation, Texas Institute of Science, Armstrong World Industries, Norsonic A.S…). The Research Programme has been engaged in more than 100 projects since 2017, which further confirms breakthrough contributions in cutting-edge basic research and the effective transfer of this research to the creation of innovative products. Moreover, researchers of the Research Programme are very active in international and national publicly funded projects. In the last funding period our members have participated in 8 H2020 projects, 7 other international R&D projects. In addition, our members collaborate in international Competence centers and networking actions. Most of these projects are still ongoing, as they were awarded recently, which confirms the increased international visibility of the Research Programme. This solid project basis, a growing network of interdisciplinary and international partners, as well as a fruitful ecosystem for the creation of innovative ideas, form a prosperous platform for boosting the development and creation of innovative products, technologies, technological solutions, innovations, and thus the socioeconomic development and promotion of Slovenia. Researcher of the Research Programme are very active in the dissemination of research results. One of the focal areas are publications in archival journals and, in particular, in high quality journals. In addition, we are very active in dissemination at conferences. One of our key routes of dissemination of research result is also through our high-quality pedagogic process. This arises from the key pedagogic role that the Research Programme has at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the Research Programme namely constitutes the Chair of Energy Engineering. Our graduates and in particular PhDs have a reputation as highly skilled engineers and researchers, which is crucial for successful long-term collaborations with our main national and international industrial partners. Our graduates are also highly respected and demanded in public administration and they have created several start-ups. Furthermore, researchers of the Research Programme have a very significant impact on social development on a national and international level. We are very active in multiple national and international organisations, among others in European partnerships and Slovene Strategic Research and Innovation Partnerships. As a result of this, we are very active in elaborating various national and international action plans, strategies and roadmaps. Furthermore, we are also very active in disseminating research results to society and we significantly contribute to the popularisation of science and even more importantly in raising the level of awareness and knowledge of society in the core area of expertise of the RP. This includes TV appearances, radio broadcasts, news articles and lectures. Moreover, we are very active in various targeted activities for children as Open-door technical days for primary and secondary school children, as well as Summer schools and conferences for students.
