Project

The Doctoral Network (DN) “RESCUER“ (Resilient Solutions for Coastal, Urban, Estuarine and Riverine Environments) will focus on the training of young researchers (Fellows) in the general area of coastal oceanography, hydraulic and coastal engineering, applied mathematics, and scientific computation. The network will leverage advances in the numerical treatment of hydrodynamic equations in the past decade to create multi-physics models able to address pressing needs in practical modeling of various phenomena in the coastal zone with the goal of improving overall safety of coastal areas.

Ensuring the safety of property and commercial developments onshore and offshore requires an integrated approach, including phase-resolving wave modeling, tracking and mitigation of morphological changes, potential flooding in urban areas and monitoring of water quality. While protective structures and emergency plans for catastrophic storm waves and storm surges are well established, the confluence of global warming and sea level rise with other known natural risk factors and increasing human activity create a new set of hazards and requires new thinking in coastal modeling and the planning of mitigation strategies.

To address the challenges outlined above, we will rely on numerical techniques which are in each case tested against existing models and validated with experiments and field measurements. In our work with consulting companies and government agencies, we have identified a trend towards coupled models instead of traditionally used stand-alone models and a need for operational capabilities. These needs will be answered using new multi-physics models, state-of-the-art numerical methods, image recognition algorithms and innovative programming techniques such as GPU programming. The synergistic interplay of physical modelling, numerical analysis and large-scale simulation with lab experiments and field work plays an essential role in this network. Our project goes beyond the state of the art by improving existing numerical models, employing GPU programming and super-resolution techniques and building a unified suite of solvers that will allow us to address the multi-physics problems in coastal, estuarine, riverine and urban areas.

When it comes to climate change, it will become more frequent and stronger every year. Cities and rural areas on both sides of the border need to adapt to both more rain and rising sea levels on our coasts, but also to the fact that rain may not occur for longer periods, resulting in a high drought index.

ClimatePol's focus is to make us more aware of existing structures and create alliances and cooperation across the border, so that we engage both cities, regions and all other actors who can contribute to climate adaptation measures at all levels and across the border.

The project is funded by Interreg Deutschland-Denmark and the European Union and runs from 2024-2027.

Microgrids (MG) effectively ease the integration of renewable energy sources (RES) and energy storage systems (ESS) at the consumption level, which generally aims to increase the efficiency of the electrical system and reduce the dependency of the electrical supply on fossil fuels. On the other hand, the MGs concept has been widely studied, which focuses on overcoming these issues in a reliable, efficient, and sustainable way, but still, challenges exist. For instance, the severe power outages caused by natural disasters (ND), such as tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, etc. all of which affect industrial production, disturb business as well as home operations, and may endanger human lives. These possible natural disasters and incidents impose new challenges involving sophisticated control strategies, operations, and vulnerability to natural disasters. Most of these events directly affect the overall power system and as well communication system. After a disaster, the main grid may blackout, and gen-sets are shut down for security reasons. In this situation, low-power portable containerized Ad-Hoc MGs can provide an emergency solution for two or three days to the critical loads, and potable water pumps can be provided to relieve the damaged area. However, resilience in front of extreme grid faults is still a technical challenge for MGs to deal with NDs. Therefore, the main concerns and current challenges for increasing renewable energy penetration and resiliency in power systems should be targeted to ensure high and unprecedented levels of system resiliency and recovery under NDs. For this purpose, we need resilient energy systems that are robust against these events, moreover, they can keep the power system safe against overall collapse and complete power outages as much as possible. For sizing and siting of ad-hoc and community MGs to supply energy for emergency clinic support and clean water provision in the potentially damaged areas caused by NDs are done by using HOMER Grid/Simulink. Operational Management Systems (OMS) will be developed by using GAMS and Matlab/Simulink for the microgrid operation taking into account the priority of sensitive loads in the islands during the ND. For experimental verification, the project outcomes will also be implemented on real-time control and monitoring platform (dSPACE) in the microgrids Laboratory. This Ph.D. project part of the planning and operational management systems (OMS) is aligned with the ongoing project `Microgrid Technologies for Remote Indonesian Islands-TECH-IN` to cope with the main concerns to provide high levels of resiliency and availability of electricity supply in front of natural disasters.

Funding: ChiefMinister Merit Scholarships (CMMS), The Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF), Pakistan.

Sponsored: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, DANIDA Fellowship Centre (Project No. 20-M06-AAU) and supported byDANIDA Fellowship Centre and TECHIN Cerner of Research on Microgrids AAUEnergy, Aalborg University, Aalborg Denmark.

The shipping industry's plans to replace fossil fuels with green fuels have several well-described climate and environmental benefits, but far less well-studied are the possible environmental risks linked to a large-scale use of green fuels in ships. Sufficient knowledge of the physical and chemical properties, toxicity to the environment, as well as dispersion and degradation dynamics of the green fuels in the environment are therefore fundamental prerequisites for the shipping industry to implement the green transition with minimal risk of simply replacing one problem with another.

In this project, we will carry out the first in-depth mapping and environmental risk assessment of potential derived environmental effects that may arise from both emissions to the atmosphere and discharges to the marine environment from these green marine fuels. The project includes, among other things, a thorough review of the properties of the green fuels in both air and water, experimental studies on the impact on aquatic organisms, natural degradation mechanisms, the spread in both the atmosphere and marine environment during normal operation and in the event of accidents/spills, as well as life cycle assessment (LCA).

The project aims to facilitate the transition from fossil fuels to greener energy sources in Danish ferry shipping. The new and rebuilt ferries have, among other things, increased automation and innovative changes, which change the roles of crew members and require different skills.
A tailored method for job requirement analysis will be developed, with the Molslinjen as
a test platform, to identify competence gaps and optimize the distribution of tasks between people and technology.
The goal is to strengthen the ability of crews to handle the increased complexity of modern shipping and promote efficiency in the industry.

Ferries are responsible for 0.8 million tons of greenhouse gas emission annually in Denmark and often sail close to cities where they add to the already critical air pollution levels. This holds especially true for small Danish municipalities, as diesel-driven ferries contribute up to 20 % to their total global warming contribution. Therefore, fully electric powered ferries are taking centre stage in Denmark. However, the current wide use of synthetic refrigerants (and their leaks into the atmosphere) in the maritime sector leads even 100 % electricity-powered ships not to be actually greenhouse gas emission free. In addition, currently the driving range of fully electric powered ferries is penalized due to the lack of an optimized heat pump system layout, suitable battery thermal management strategy and appropriate waste heat recovery approaches.

The objective of the ECO2-ferries project is to develop the first heat pump being completely tailored to 100 % electricity-powered ferries. The use of CO2 as a natural (i.e. future-proof) refrigerant of the heat pump will finally lead 100 % electricity-powered ferries to be actually greenhouse gas emission free ships. In addition, CO2 will allow for a compact heat pump and high safety levels (i.e. non-flammable and non-toxic). High energy performance will be guaranteed by the implementation of (i) an optimized system layout, (ii) a proper battery thermal management approach, (iii) a suitable heat recovery technique as well as (iv) an effective and robust overall control strategy.

The ECO2-ferries project will involve the University of Southern Denmark, Odense Maritime Technology and Marstal Navigationsskole as project partners and Danske Maritime, Danfoss A/S, BCOOL A/S, Danish Technological Institute, Ærø municipality and Ærøfærgerne as project supporters. The project has received funding from Den Danske Maritime Fond.

“Green Transitions in Port of Aalborg” is a collaboration between the Port of Aalborg and Aalborg University Business School. Both organizations share from different angles—practice and research—the interest in green transitions; that is, how business operations and strategies can be designed such that they ensure an ecologically sustainable economy. As business operations vary widely, this strategic initiative comprises three main foci, looking at business operations within the port, at how the port interacts with its external environment, and at the port as one player in the broader regional environment (i.e., Greater Aalborg), always through the lens of identifying and solving problems in relation to green transitions.

In this project, we will conduct the first in-depth mapping and environmental risk assessment of potential secondary environmental effects that may arise from both emissions to the atmosphere and discharges to the marine environment from these CO2 neutral marine fuels. The project includes a thorough review of the properties of CO2 neutral fuels in both air and water, experimental studies of the impact on aquatic organisms, natural degradation mechanisms, their dispersion in both the atmosphere and the marine environment during normal operation and accidents/spillages, and life cycle assessment (LCA).