J-Park Simulator: An ontology-based platform for cross-domain scenarios in process industry

The J-Park Simulator (JPS) acts as a continuously growing platform for integrating real-time data, knowledge, models, and tools related to process industry. It aims at simulation and optimization in cross-domain and multi-level scenarios and relies heavily on ontologies and semantic technologies. In this paper, we demonstrate the interoperability between different applications in JPS, introduce new domain ontologies into the JPS, and integrate live data. For this, we utilize a knowledge graph to store and link semantically described data and models and create agents wrapping the applications and updating the data in the knowledge graph dynamically. We present a comprehensive industrial air pollution scenario, which has been implemented as part of the JPS, to show how knowledge graphs and modular domain ontologies support the interoperability between agents. We show that the architecture of JPS increases the interoperability and flexibility in cross-domain scenarios and conclude that the potential of ontologies outweighs additional wrapping efforts.National Research Foundation (NRF)Accepted versionThis project is funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme. MK gratefully acknowledges the support of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation

OntoKin: An Ontology for Chemical Kinetic Reaction Mechanisms.

An ontology for capturing both data and the semantics of chemical kinetic reaction mechanisms has been developed. Such mechanisms can be applied to simulate and understand the behavior of chemical processes, for example, the emission of pollutants from internal combustion engines. An ontology development methodology was used to produce the semantic model of the mechanisms, and a tool was developed to automate the assertion process. As part of the development methodology, the ontology is formally represented using a web ontology language (OWL), assessed by domain experts, and validated by applying a reasoning tool. The resulting ontology, termed OntoKin, has been used to represent example mechanisms from the literature. OntoKin and its instantiations are integrated to create a knowledge base (KB), which is deployed using the RDF4J triple store. The use of the OntoKin ontology and the KB is demonstrated for three use cases-querying across mechanisms, modeling atmospheric pollution dispersion, and as a mechanism browser tool. As part of the query use case, the OntoKin tools have been applied by a chemist to identify variations in the rate of a prompt NOx formation reaction in the combustion of ammonia as represented by four mechanisms in the literature

Decision support strategies for the efficient implementation of circular economy principles in process systems

Economic growth at any expense is no longer an option. Awareness of the growing human footprint is crucial to face the problems that the impoverishment of ecosystems is causing and will cause in the future. One of the key challenges to address it is moving toward approaches to manage resources in a more sustainable way. In this light, circular economy stands as a promising strategy to improve the lifetime of resources by closing material and energy loops. The Process Systems Engineering (PSE) community has been developing methods and tools for increasing efficiency in process systems since the late 1980s. These methods and tools allow the development of more sustainable products, processes, and supply chains. However, applying these tools to circular economy requires special considerations when evaluating the introduction of waste-to-resource technologies. This Thesis aims at providing a set of models and tools to support in the decision-making process of closing material cycles in process systems through the implementation of waste-to-resource technologies from the circular economy perspective. The first part provides an overview of approaches to sustainability, presents the optimization challenges that circular economy and industrial symbiosis pose to PSE, and introduces the methodological and industrial scope of the Thesis. Part two aims at assessing the environmental and economic reward that may be attained through the application of circular economy principles in the chemical industry. With this purpose, a systematic procedure based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), economic performance and Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is proposed to characterize technologies and facilitate the comparison of traditional and novel technologies. The third part describes groundwork tasks for optimization models. A methodology is presented for the systematic generation of a list of potential waste-to-resource technologies based on an ontological framework to structure the information. In addition, this part also presents a targeting approach developed to include waste transformation and resource outsourcing, so a new dimension of potential destinations for waste are explored for the extension of material recovery. Finally, part four includes the development of decision-making models at the strategic and tactical hierarchical levels. At the network level, a framework is presented for the screening of waste-to-resource technologies in the design of process networks. The most promising processing network for waste recovery is identified by selecting the most favorable waste transformation processes among a list of potential alternatives. After the network selection, an optimization model is built for the detailed synthesis of individual processes selected in the resulting network. The developed methodologies have been validated and illustrated through their application to a case study under different viewpoints in the process industry, in particular to the chemical recycling of plastic waste. Despite the low Technology Readiness Level of some chemical recycling technologies, the results of this Thesis reveal pyrolysis as a promising technology to close the loop in the polymer sector. Overall, all these positive outcomes prove the advantages of developing tools to systematically integrate waste-to-resource processes into the life cycle of materials. The adaptation to this change of perspective of the well-established methods developed by the PSE community offers a wide range of opportunities to foster circular economy and industrial symbiosis. This Thesis aims to be a step forward towards a future with more economically efficient and environmentally friendly life cycles of materials.El crecimiento económico a cualquier precio ha dejado de ser una opción viable. Tener conciencia sobre nuestra creciente huella ambiental es clave para afrontar los problemas que el empobrecimiento de los ecosistemas está causando y causará en el futuro. Uno de los desafíos clave para abordarlo es avanzar hacia técnicas que permitan una gestión de recursos más sostenible. En esta línea, la economía circular es una estrategia con gran potencial para mejorar la vida útil de los recursos mediante el cierre de ciclos de materiales y energía. Desde finales de los años ochenta, la investigación en Ingeniería de Procesos y Sistemas (PSE) ha permitido generar métodos y herramientas para el desarrollo sostenible de productos, procesos y cadenas de suministro. Sin embargo, su aplicación en economía circular requiere consideraciones especiales al evaluar la introducción de nuevas tecnologías para el reciclaje de materiales. Esta Tesis tiene como objetivo proporcionar un conjunto de modelos y herramientas para apoyar el proceso de toma de decisiones sobre el aprovechamiento de materiales a través de la lente de la economía circular mediante la implementación de tecnologías de conversión de residuos en recursos. La primera parte presenta una visión general de los enfoques de sostenibilidad, lista los desafíos que la economía circular y la simbiosis industrial plantean en PSE, e introduce el alcance metodológico e industrial de la Tesis. La segunda parte tiene como objetivo evaluar los beneficios ambientales y económicos que se pueden obtener mediante la aplicación de los principios de la economía circular en la industria química. Con este propósito, se desarrolla un método sistemático basado en el análisis del ciclo de vida, el rendimiento económico y el nivel de madurez tecnológica para caracterizar las tecnologías de recuperación y facilitar la comparación entre técnicas tradicionales y en desarrollo. La tercera parte describe las tareas previas al desarrollo de los modelos de optimización. Se presenta una metodología para la generación sistemática de una lista de posibles tecnologías de conversión de residuos en recursos utilizando en un marco ontológico para estructurar la información. Además, se expone un método para acotar la transformación de residuos y la externalización de recursos, que permite explorar una nueva dimensión de destinos potenciales para los residuos, extendiendo así el grado de recuperación de materiales. Por último, la cuarta parte incluye el desarrollo de modelos de toma de decisiones a nivel estratégico y táctico. A nivel estratégico, se presenta un marco para la detección de tecnologías de reciclaje de residuos en el diseño de redes de procesos. Tras sintetizar la red, a nivel táctico se construye un modelo de optimización para el diseño detallado de los procesos individuales seleccionados en el mismo. Las metodologías desarrolladas han sido ilustradas y validadas a través de su aplicación en un caso de estudio con diferentes perspectivas sobre el reciclaje químico de residuos plásticos. A pesar del bajo nivel de madurez tecnológica de los procesos de reciclaje químico, los resultados de esta Tesis permiten identificar el gran potencial económico y ambiental de la pirolisis de residuos plásticos para cerrar su ciclo de materiales. En conjunto, los resultados demuestran las ventajas de desarrollar herramientas para integrar sistemáticamente los procesos de reciclaje de residuos en el ciclo de vida de los materiales. La adaptación a las necesidades de este cambio de perspectiva de métodos bien establecidos en la comunidad PSE ofrece grandes oportunidades para fomentar la economía circular y la simbiosis industrial. Esta tesis pretende ser un paso adelante hacia un futuro con ciclos de vida de materiales económica y ambientalmente más eficientes

Connecting the dots: information visualization and text analysis of the Searchlight Project newsletters

This report is the product of the Pardee Center’s work on the Searchlight:Visualization and Analysis of Trend Data project sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. Part of a larger effort to analyze and disseminate on-the-ground information about important societal trends as reported in a large number of regional newsletters developed in Asia, Africa and the Americas specifically for the Foundation, the Pardee Center developed sophisticated methods to systematically review, categorize, analyze, visualize, and draw conclusions from the information in the newsletters.The Rockefeller Foundatio

Towards sustainable development in a transition economy: The case of eco-industrial parks in Ukraine

Sustainable development for transition economies is an opportunity to accelerate and complete socio-economic transformations and at the same time an additional responsibility in situations of instability and uncertainty. The chances for strengthening sustainability are growing within the organized innovation space, which makes it possible to model scenarios of ecologically oriented development and, with the help of state and international support, to start their implementation. The paper aims to analyze the possibilities and directions of creating eco-industrial parks in a transition economy. It uses an innovative helix model in its triple, quadruple and quintuple variations for functioning and sustainable development of industrial parks in Ukraine. The study adopts a descriptive comparative analysis of data on the planning and implementation of economic, primarily environmentally relevant, activities. Based on the analysis and description of exogenous factors, in particular within GEIPP, a SWOT table on the potential of eco-industrial parks was formed. The directions of development of industrial, technological, and scientific parks in Ukraine are determined using the quintuple helix model on the plane of “knowledge-innovation”, in particular on quadruple helix transition to sustainability through the simultaneous development of socially oriented and environmental activities. Within the legislation, it is proposed to approve a sustainable form of artificially separated innovation parks, namely the “eco-industrial park”. One of the conditions for advanced sustainable development in Ukraine is the creation of a national program to support the transformation of innovation parks into their environmental versions 2.0 and 3.0, as well as investing in greenfield eco-industrial parks

Collaborative Ontology Engineering Methodologies for the Development of Decision Support Systems: Case Studies in the Healthcare Domain

New models and technological advances are driving the digital transformation of healthcare systems. Ontologies and Semantic Web have been recognized among the most valuable solutions to manage the massive, various, and complex healthcare data deriving from different sources, thus acting as backbones for ontology-based Decision Support Systems (DSSs). Several contributions in the literature propose Ontology engineering methodologies (OEMs) to assist the formalization and development of ontologies, by providing guidelines on tasks, activities, and stakeholders' participation. Nevertheless, existing OEMs differ widely according to their approach, and often lack of sufficient details to support ontology engineers. This paper performs a meta-review of the main criteria adopted for assessing OEMs, and major issues and shortcomings identified in existing methodologies. The key issues requiring specific attention (i.e., the delivery of a feasibility study, the introduction of project management processes, the support for reuse, and the involvement of stakeholders) are then explored into three use cases of semantic-based DSS in health-related fields. Results contribute to the literature on OEMs by providing insights on specific tools and approaches to be used when tackling these issues in the development of collaborative OEMs supporting DSS

Blockchain, parameterisation and automated arbitrage applied to the chemical industry

This thesis considers three scenarios related to chemical industry where the concepts of eco-industrial parks (EIPs), Industry 4.0, parameterisation, blockchain and arbitrage are brought together to explore the issues of simulation speed and accuracy, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and automated participation in financial markets. In the first scenario, a biodiesel plant flow sheet model is analysed and parameterised. The relations between 11 inputs typical to a biodiesel plant and its energy requirements are approximated using surrogate models, of which accuracy is assessed. Additionally, the effects of dimensionality, domain size and surrogate type on the accuracy are investigated and global sensitivities of the outputs are computed using High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR). Most surrogate models achieved at least a reasonable fit regardless of the domain size and number of dimensions. It was observed that in all cases only 4 or fewer inputs have significant influence on any of the outputs and that the interaction terms have only minor effect on any one output. In the second scenario, applications of blockchain technology related to Industry 4.0 are explored and an example where blockchain is employed to facilitate M2M interactions and establish a M2M electricity market in the context of the chemical industry is presented. Successful implementation of two electricity producers and one electricity consumer trading with each other over a blockchain-based network is presented. In the third scenario, an automated arbitrage spotter is developed and applied to two cases: conversion of natural gas to methanol and crude palm oil to biodiesel. The spotter is designed to search for opportunities to make additional profit by analysing the futures market prices for both the reagent and the product. It considers cost of storage and conversion (other feedstock, steam, electricity and other utilities) derived from physical simulations of the chemical process. In a profitable scenario up to 345.17 USD per tonne of biodiesel can be earned by buying contracts for delivery of crude palm oil in September 2018 and selling contracts for delivery of biodiesel in December 2018 in a ratio of 4 to 1.Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology in the University of Cambridge and Cambridge CARES Ltd

Roadmap for Renewable Energy Technologies Diffusion : A comparative study of Socioeconomic, Regulatory, and Technological issues in Finland and Poland

Energy is a fundamental resource required for the functioning and prosperity of societies across the globe. However, due to e.g. industrialization, digitalization, overpopulation, and growing shares of the global middle and middle-high class, the energy demand levels are expeditiously increasing. Considering climate change and global warming issues, there is a need to significantly limit the utilization of fossil fuels for energy generation purposes. Renewable energy technologies (RETs) can support the global energy transition by providing more clean, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly solutions. The expanding technological innovation advancement generates the capacity of renewables to enhance, inter alia, energy efficiency and security, sustainable development, proficient use of native resources, independence from energy imports, and escalating cost competitiveness. Regrettably, the share of renewables in global energy mixes remains relatively modest and inadequate. This doctoral dissertation aims to explore the major factors influencing the diffusion of renewable energy technologies. Particular emphasis has been put on key regulatory, socioeconomic, and technological aspects of RETs diffusion in two European Union member states, Finland and Poland. By applying a problem-solving approach, this study initially detects the most hampering factors of RETs diffusion in order to address them and suggest effective improvement measures. The outcomes of this research highlight the importance of regulatory regimes and inter-sectoral collaborative networks to uphold the diffusion of environmentally-friendly solutions and propose circular economy, venture capital, and blockchain technology as possible incubators for RETs diffusion. Qualitative research methodology, strengthened with the philosophical approach of critical realism has helped to thoroughly investigate the phenomenon of RETs diffusion based on selected case studies from the RETs industry. A cross-country comparative analysis reveals novel insights on major similarities and differences in various predicaments for developing RETs in both investigated countries. The collective outcomes of the analyses served to develop a “Roadmap for RETs diffusion”, which suggests practical mechanisms, actions, and measures to facilitate the adoption of renewables in Finland and Poland. This study is a vital information source for the policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders and interest groups devoted to the widespread diffusion of RETs.Energia on yhteiskuntien toiminnan ja hyvinvoinnin kannalta keskeinen perusresurssi kaikkialla maailmassa. Energian kysyntä kasvaa kuitenkin nopeasti johtuen muun muassa teollistumisesta, digitalisaatiosta ja ylikansoituksesta. Ilmaston lämpenemisen hillitsemiseksi fossiilisten polttoaineiden käyttöä energiantuotantotarkoituksiin on merkittävästi rajoitettava. Uusiutuvan energian teknologiat (RET) voivat tukea maailmanlaajuista energiasiirtymää tarjoamalla puhtaampia, kestävämpiä ja ympäristöystävällisempiä ratkaisuja. Uusiin energialähteisiin liittyvät teknologiset innovaatiot parantavat energiatehokkuutta ja turval¬lisuutta, kestävää kehitystä, luonnonvarojen asiantuntevaa käyttöä, riippu¬mattomuutta energian tuonnista sekä kansallista kustannuskilpailukykyä. Uusiutuvien energialähteiden osuus maailman energiantuotannosta on kuitenkin edelleen suhteellisen vaatimaton. Tämän väitöskirjan tavoitteena on selvittää uusiutuvan energian teknologioiden leviämiseen vaikuttavia keskeisiä tekijöitä. Uusiutuvan energian teknologioiden leviämisen keskeisiä tekijöitä sääntelyn sekä sosioekonomisten ja teknologisten näkökohtien kannalta on tarkasteltu erityisesti kahdessa Euroopan unionin jäsenvaltiossa, Suomessa ja Puolassa. Tutkimuksessa on tunnistettu teknologioiden leviämistä vaikeuttavia tekijöitä ja niihin liittyviä parannuksia. Tutkimuksen tulokset korostavat sääntelyjärjestelmien välisten yhteistyöverkostojen merkitystä ympäristöystävällisten ratkaisujen edistämisessä, ja ehdottavat kierto¬taloutta, riskipääomaa ja lohkoketjuteknologiaa mahdollisiksi ratkaisuiksi uusiutuvan energian teknologioiden leviämiselle. Tutkimus noudattaa kriittiseen realismiin pohjautuvaa laadullista tutkimusmetodologiaa. Uusiutuvan energian teknologioiden leviämistä tutkitaan tapaustutkimuksia käyttäen. Maiden välinen vertaileva analyysi tuo esiin havaintoja merkittävistä yhtäläisyyksistä ja eroista erilaisissa uusiutuvan energian teknologioiden kehityksen haasteissa molemmissa tutkituissa maissa. Analyysien tulosten pohjalta työssä on kehitetty tiekartta, joka ehdottaa käytännön mekanismeja, toimia ja toimenpiteitä uusiutuvien energialähteiden käyttöönoton helpotta¬miseksi Suomessa ja Puolassa. Tämä tutkimus toimii tietolähteenä poliittisille päättäjille, toimijoille ja muille sidosryhmille uusiutuvan energian teknologisen kehityksen alueella.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Management, Technology and Learning for Individuals, Organisations and Society in Turbulent Environments

This book presents the collection of fifty two papers which were presented on the First International Conference on BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY ’08 - Management, Technology and Learning for Individuals, Organisations and Society in Turbulent Environments, held in Ofir, Portugal, from 25th to 27th of June, 2008. The main motive of the meeting was the growing awareness of the importance of the sustainability issue. This importance had emerged from the growing uncertainty of the market behaviour that leads to the characterization of the market, i.e. environment, as turbulent. Actually, the characterization of the environment as uncertain and turbulent reflects the fact that the traditional technocratic and/or socio-technical approaches cannot effectively and efficiently lead with the present situation. In other words, the rise of the sustainability issue means the quest for new instruments to deal with uncertainty and/or turbulence. The sustainability issue has a complex nature and solutions are sought in a wide range of domains and instruments to achieve and manage it. The domains range from environmental sustainability (referring to natural environment) through organisational and business sustainability towards social sustainability. Concerning the instruments for sustainability, they range from traditional engineering and management methodologies towards “soft” instruments such as knowledge, learning, creativity. The papers in this book address virtually whole sustainability problems space in a greater or lesser extent. However, although the uncertainty and/or turbulence, or in other words the dynamic properties, come from coupling of management, technology, learning, individuals, organisations and society, meaning that everything is at the same time effect and cause, we wanted to put the emphasis on business with the intention to address primarily the companies and their businesses. From this reason, the main title of the book is “Business Sustainability” but with the approach of coupling Management, Technology and Learning for individuals, organisations and society in Turbulent Environments. Concerning the First International Conference on BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY, its particularity was that it had served primarily as a learning environment in which the papers published in this book were the ground for further individual and collective growth in understanding and perception of sustainability and capacity for building new instruments for business sustainability. In that respect, the methodology of the conference work was basically dialogical, meaning promoting dialog on the papers, but also including formal paper presentations. In this way, the conference presented a rich space for satisfying different authors’ and participants’ needs. Additionally, promoting the widest and global learning environment and participativeness, the Conference Organisation provided the broadcasting over Internet of the Conference sessions, dialogical and formal presentations, for all authors’ and participants’ institutions, as an innovative Conference feature. In these terms, this book could also be understood as a complementary instrument to the Conference authors’ and participants’, but also to the wider readerships’ interested in the sustainability issues. The book brought together 97 authors from 10 countries, namely from Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Sweden and United Kingdom. The authors “ranged” from senior and renowned scientists to young researchers providing a rich and learning environment. At the end, the editors hope and would like that this book will be useful, meeting the expectation of the authors and wider readership and serving for enhancing the individual and collective learning, and to incentive further scientific development and creation of new papers. Also, the editors would use this opportunity to announce the intention to continue with new editions of the conference and subsequent editions of accompanying books on the subject of BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY, the second of which is planned for year 2011.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Deep Ecology Movement

There are two great streams of environmentalism in the latter half of the twentieth century. One stream is reformist, attempting to control some of the worst of the air and water pollution and inefficient land use practices in industrialized nations and to save a few of the remaining pieces of wildlands as designated wilderness areas. The other stream supports many of the reformist goals but is revolutionary, seeking a new metaphysics, epistemology, cosmology, and environmental ethics of person/planet. This paper is an intellectual archeology of the second of these streams of environmentalism, which I will call deep ecology