High Technology Readiness Level Research Articles

Icarus: In-situ monitoring of the surface degradation on a near-Sun asteroid

Icarus is a mission concept designed to record the activity of an asteroid during a close encounter with the Sun. The primary science goal of the mission is to unravel the nontrivial mechanism(s) that destroy asteroids on orbits with small perihelion distances. Understanding the destruction mechanism(s) allows us to constrain the bulk composition and interior structure of asteroids in general. The Icarus mission does not only aim to achieve its science goals but also functions as a technical demonstration of what a low-cost space mission can do. The proposed space segment will include a single spacecraft capable of surviving and operating in the harsh environment near the Sun. The spacecraft design relies on the heritage of missions such as Rosetta, MESSENGER, Parker Solar Probe, BepiColombo, and Solar Orbiter. The spacecraft will rendezvous with an asteroid during its perihelion passage and records the changes taking place on the asteroid’s surface. The primary scientific payload has to be capable of imaging the asteroid’s surface in high resolution using visual and near-infrared channels as well as collecting and analyzing particles that are ejected from the asteroid. The payload bay also allows for additional payloads relating to, for example, solar research. The Icarus spacecraft and the planned payloads have high technology readiness levels and the mission is aimed to fit the programmatic and cost constraints of the F1 mission (Comet Interceptor) by the European Space Agency. Considering the challenging nature of the Icarus trajectory and the fact that the next F-class mission opportunity (F2) is yet to be announced, we conclude that Icarus is feasible as an F-class mission when certain constraints such as a suitable launch configuration are met. A larger mission class, such as the M class by the European Space Agency, would be feasible in all circumstances.

Negative CO2 Emissions for Transportation

Negative emission technologies have recently received increasing attention due to climate change and global warming. One among them is bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), but the capture process is very energy intensive. Here, a novel pathway is introduced, based on second-generation biofuels followed by carbon circulation in an indefinitely closed chain, effectively resulting in a sink. Instead of using an energy-intensive conventional CCS process, the application of an on-board solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) running on biofuels in an electric vehicle (FCEV) could result in negative emissions by capturing a concentrated stream of CO2, which is readily stored in a second tank. A CO2 recovery system at the fuel station then takes the CO2 from the tank to be transported to storage locations or to be used for local applications such as CO2-based concrete curing and synthesis of e-fuels. Incorporating CO2 utilization technologies into the FCEVs-SOFC system can close the carbon loop, achieving carbon neutrality through feeding the CO2 in a reverse-logistic to a methanol plant. The methanol produced is also used in SOFCs, leading to an infinite repetition of this carbon cycle till a saturation stage is reached. It is determined this pathway will reach typical Cradle-to-Grave negative emissions of 0.515 ton CO2 per vehicle, and total negative CO2 emission of 138 Mt for all passenger cars in the EU is potentially achievable. All steps comprise known technologies with medium to high technology readiness level (TRL) levels, so principally this system can readily be applied in the mid-term.

Bridge to zero-emission: Life cycle assessment of CO2–methanol conversion process and energy optimization

CO2-conversion technology provides both CO2 emission reduction and new value chains and is now becoming a key player in moderating global temperature increase. In this study, CO2-methanol synthesis processes are evaluated through life cycle assessment. Four conversion processes are selected to represent different technological readiness level (TRL) groups. Coal gasification and coking conversion process for high TRL while hydrogenation and photocatalytic conversion process represent mid and low TRL. Coal gasification conversion shows the highest global warming potential (GWP) with 17.7 kg CO2eq, followed by hydrogenation conversion, and coal coking conversion. Photocatalytic conversion showed the lowest GWP with 2.28 kg CO2 eq. The mid-to-low TRL conversion processes are analyzed by varying heat and electric sources. Through variation, feasibility of reducing CO2 emission to low-TRL level is confirmed. Although emission reduction sensitives upon energy sources are varied, hydrogenation conversion process reduced the GWP from 10.7 to 1.65 kg CO2 eq. Through the study, it is verified that hydrogenation conversion could be a bridge to green methanol until technological development of photocatalytic conversion, an acceleration to zero-emission.

Innovative Adsorbents and Membranes Tested for High CO2 Content NG Separation at CO2CRC’s Otway International Test Centre

The CO2CRC, in collaboration with The University of Melbourne (UoM) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW), tested two novel CO2 capture technologies aimed for both on-shore and off-shore natural gas applications. The tests involved materials testing in a state-of-the-art experimental capture rig at CO2CRC’s Otway International Test Centre followed by simulation and techno-economic activities for scaled up facilities. The goal was to develop robust and compact technology for high pressure natural gas separation over a range of adjusted high CO2 concentrations mimicking various gas field conditions. The tests were conducted for adsorbents and membranes in a high-pressure rig incorporating both pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and membrane technologies. It was found that adsorption, a second-generation technology with a low footprint is very suitable for natural gas separation with higher separation efficiency, contrary to the general perception. The stable separation performance of the thin film composite hollow fibre membranes was particularly encouraging among all membranes tested. This paper will discuss novel adsorbent and membrane development and their quantitative performance in the test campaigns followed by suggested next steps in the TRL towards commercial application. It is anticipated further research and testing at higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) levels 5/6 would be necessary to make them commercial ready. These technologies, if successful, would facilitate developing new gas fields to recover methane in a cost-effective manner which is currently uneconomical with conventional technologies.

Marine Biotechnology: Challenges and Development Market Trends for the Enhancement of Biotic Resources in Industrial Pharmaceutical and Food Applications. A Statistical Analysis of Scientific Literature and Business Models.

Biotechnology is an essential tool for the sustainable exploitation of marine resources, although the full development of their potential is complicated by a series of cognitive and technological limitations. Thanks to an innovative systematic approach that combines the meta-analysis of 620 articles produced worldwide with 29 high TRL (Technology Readiness Level) European funded projects, the study provides an assessment of the growth prospects of blue biotechnologies, with a focus on pharmaceutical and food applications, and the most promising technologies to overcome the main challenges in the commercialization of marine products. The results show a positive development trend, with publications more than doubled from 2010 (36) to 2019 (70). Biochemical and molecular characterization, with 150 studies, is the most widely used technology. However, the emerging technologies in basic research are omics technologies, pharmacological analysis and bioinformatics, which have doubled the number of publications in the last five years. On the other hand, technologies for optimizing the conditions of cultivation, harvesting and extraction are central to most business models with immediate commercial exploitation (65% of high-TRL selected projects), especially in food and nutraceutical applications. This research offers a starting point for future research to overcome all those obstacles that restrict the marketing of products derived from organisms.

New insights about the electrochemical production of ozone

Ozone is a rather attractive oxidant, it is very efficient in the oxidation of pollutants and in the killing of pathogens and does not generate any hazardous waste during its use. Its generation has been constantly sought in an effective way, focusing on obtaining high concentrations of ozone at the lowest possible cost. Recently, electrochemical production of ozone show advantages over conventional corona discharge generation, since this technology do not need very high voltages, feeding oxygen or pure air or dissolving the ozone into wastewater to be treated. However, it is still at early development stage and there is still a long way to reach the high technology readiness levels needed to complete its value chain. Equipment considerations and operation conditions are the key points that need to be understood in order to increase efficiently. Recent novelties in the state of the art of research are summarized in this work.

Direct Methanation of Biogas—Technical Challenges and Recent Progress

The direct methanation of biogas using hydrogen from electrolysis is a promising pathway for seasonal storage of renewables in the natural gas network. It offers particular advantages over the methanation of carbon dioxide separated from biogas, as it eliminates a costly and unnecessary carbon dioxide separation step. The key implementation challenges facing direct methanation of biogas are reviewed here: 1) treatment of biogas impurities; 2) competing reactor concepts for methanation; and 3) competing process concepts for final upgrading. For each of these three aspects, the state of the art is reviewed, focusing especially on results which have been validated at a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at recent long-duration demonstrations. The different technology solutions have advantages and disadvantages which may fit best to different technical and economic boundary conditions, which are discussed. As a final outlook, TRL 8 demo plants will be necessary to show the full potential of these systems, and to obtain consistent operation data to allow a cost comparison.

Project Lyra: Catching 1I/‘Oumuamua–Using Nuclear Thermal Rockets

The first definite interstellar object observed in our solar system was discovered in October of 2017 and was subsequently designated 1I/‘Oumuamua. In addition to its extrasolar origin, observations and analysis of this object indicate some unusual features which can only be explained by in-situ exploration. For this purpose, various spacecraft intercept missions have been proposed. Their propulsion schemes have been chemical, exploiting a Jupiter and Solar Oberth Maneuver (mission duration of 22 years) and also using Earth-based lasers to propel laser sails (1–2 years), both with launch dates in 2030. For the former, mission durations are quite prolonged and for the latter, the necessary laser infrastructure may not be in place by 2030. In this study Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is examined for chasing interstellar objects after they have left the inner solar system, taking 1I/‘Oumuamua as an example. NTP has yet to materialise as far as real missions are concerned, but due to its research and development in the US government sponsored Rover/NERVA programs, actually has a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) than laser propulsion. Various solid reactor core options are studied, using either engines directly derived from these programs, or more advanced options, like a proposed particle bed nuclear thermal rocket (NTR). With specific impulses at least twice those of chemical rockets, NTP opens the opportunity for much higher ΔV budgets, allowing simpler and more direct, time-saving trajectories to be exploited. For example a spacecraft with an upgraded NERVA/Pewee-class NTR travelling along an Earth-Jupiter-1I trajectory, would reach 1I/‘Oumuamua within 14 years of a launch in 2031. The payload mass to 1I/’Oumuamua would be around 2.5 tonnes, but even larger masses and shorter mission durations can be achieved with some of the more advanced NTR options studied. In all 4 different proposed NTRs and 5 different trajectory scenarios are examined. It is concluded that NTP has the potential to increase payload size by an order of magnitude and trip durations reduced to < 15 years compared to > 20 years for chemical propulsion.

Futures of artificial intelligence through technology readiness levels

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers the potential to transform our lives in radical ways. However, the main unanswered questions about this foreseen transformation are its depth, breadth and timelines. To answer them, not only do we lack the tools to determine what achievements will be attained in the near future, but we even ignore what various technologies in present-day AI are capable of. Many so-called breakthroughs in AI are associated with highly-cited research papers or good performance in some particular benchmarks. However, research breakthroughs do not directly translate into a technology that is ready to use in real-world environments. In this paper, we present a novel exemplar-based methodology to categorise and assess several AI technologies, by mapping them onto Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) (representing their depth in maturity and availability). We first interpret the nine TRLs in the context of AI, and identify several categories in AI to which they can be assigned. We then introduce a generality dimension, which represents increasing layers of breadth of the technology. These two dimensions lead to the new readiness-vs-generality charts, which show that higher TRLs are achievable for low-generality technologies, focusing on narrow or specific abilities, while high TRLs are still out of reach for more general capabilities. We include numerous examples of AI technologies in a variety of fields, and show their readiness-vs-generality charts, serving as exemplars. Finally, we show how the timelines of several AI technology exemplars at different generality layers can help forecast some short-term and mid-term trends for AI.

Machine learning in predicting respiratory failure in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia-Challenges, strengths, and opportunities in a global health emergency.

The aim of this study was to estimate a 48 hour prediction of moderate to severe respiratory failure, requiring mechanical ventilation, in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. This was an observational prospective study that comprised consecutive patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to hospital from 21 February to 6 April 2020. The patients' medical history, demographic, epidemiologic and clinical data were collected in an electronic patient chart. The dataset was used to train predictive models using an established machine learning framework leveraging a hybrid approach where clinical expertise is applied alongside a data-driven analysis. The study outcome was the onset of moderate to severe respiratory failure defined as PaO2/FiO2 ratio <150 mmHg in at least one of two consecutive arterial blood gas analyses in the following 48 hours. Shapley Additive exPlanations values were used to quantify the positive or negative impact of each variable included in each model on the predicted outcome. A total of 198 patients contributed to generate 1068 usable observations which allowed to build 3 predictive models based respectively on 31-variables signs and symptoms, 39-variables laboratory biomarkers and 91-variables as a composition of the two. A fourth "boosted mixed model" included 20 variables was selected from the model 3, achieved the best predictive performance (AUC = 0.84) without worsening the FN rate. Its clinical performance was applied in a narrative case report as an example. This study developed a machine model with 84% prediction accuracy, which is able to assist clinicians in decision making process and contribute to develop new analytics to improve care at high technology readiness levels.

What motivates customers to shop in smart shops? The impacts of smart technology and technology readiness

With the rapid diffusion of smart technologies, a new retail mode, the smart shop, has received increasing attention from both academia and practitioners in the 5G era. However, previous studies on smart shops have largely focused on the effects of smart technologies on technology adoption rather than customer shopping behaviors. To fill this gap, this study applies the hedonic information systems acceptance model (HISAM) to identify the utilitarian and hedonic motivations affecting consumer shopping intention. In addition, we characterize a second-order formative construct, technology readiness, as a technology-related personality to test its moderating role in the research model in the marketing context when consumer behaviors may differ due to individual characteristics. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we applied SmartPLS 3.2.8 to analyze 298 valid samples. The results show that perceived ease of use significantly affects perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment, in turn, these three factors directly influence shopping intention. Additionally, perceived ease of use will have a stronger impact on perceived usefulness and shopping intention when the customer has a high level of technology readiness. Finally, theoretical and practical suggestions and future research directions are also discussed.

Addressing the Security Gap in IoT: Towards an IoT Cyber Range.

The paradigm of Internet of Things has now reached a maturity level where the pertinent research goal is the successful application of IoT technologies in systems of high technological readiness level. However, while basic aspects of IoT connectivity and networking have been well studied and adequately addressed, this has not been the case for cyber security aspects of IoT. This is nicely demonstrated by the number of IoT testbeds focusing on networking aspects and the lack of IoT testbeds focusing on security aspects. Towards addressing the existing and growing skills-shortage in IoT cyber security, we present an IoT Cyber Range (IoT-CR); an IoT testbed designed for research and training in IoT security. The IoT-CR allows the user to specify and work on customisable IoT networks, both virtual and physical, and supports the concurrent execution of multiple scenarios in a scalable way following a modular architecture. We first provide an overview of existing, state of the art IoT testbeds and cyber security related initiatives. We then present the design and architecture of the IoT Cyber Range, also detailing the corresponding RESTful APIs that help de-associate the IoT-CR tiers and obfuscate underlying complexities. The design is focused around the end-user and is based on the four design principles for Cyber Range development discussed in the introduction. Finally, we demonstrate the use of the facility via a red/blue team scenario involving a variant of man-in-the-middle attack using IoT devices. Future work includes the use of the IoT-CR by cohorts of trainees in order to evaluate the effectiveness of specific scenarios in acquiring IoT-related cyber-security knowledge and skills, as well as the IoT-CR integration with a pan-European cyber-security competence network.

Injection Strategy and EGR Optimization on a Viscosity-Improved Vegetable Oil Blend Suitable for Modern Compression Ignition Engines

&lt;div class="section abstract"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;To comply with the ambitious CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; targets of the European Union, greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector should be eliminated by 2050. Incremental powertrain improvement and electrification are only a part of the solution and need to be supplemented by carbon-neutral fuels. Due to the high technology readiness level, biofuels offer a short-term decarbonization measure. The high process energy demand for transesterification or hydrotreating however, hinders the well-to-wheel CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; reduction potential of current market biodiesels. An often-raised, economically and energetically feasible alternative is to use unprocessed oils with viscosity and cold-properties improvers instead. The present work investigates the suitability of one such biofuel (Plantanol&lt;sup&gt;TM&lt;/sup&gt;) for advanced common rail engines operating in a partially premixed compression ignition mode. Preliminary investigations are carried out on a Euro VIb light-duty car engine. The main focus is on the influence of the fuel blend on the soot/NO&lt;sub&gt;X&lt;/sub&gt; emission trade-off without changing the engine control maps. Single-cylinder engine tests are then focused on the optimization potential of injection parameters and external EGR to reach optimum performance-emissions trade-off on the new fuel. The results highlight that at the factory map setting, without EGR, biofuel offers slightly reduced thermal efficiency with respect to diesel, as a joint effect of retarded combustion and elevated THC and CO emissions. NO&lt;sub&gt;X&lt;/sub&gt; emissions are reduced by 20% at both non-EGR and to 25% EGR operation. With injection parameters optimization, the combustion phasing can be adjusted to diesel-like values while keeping the NO&lt;sub&gt;X&lt;/sub&gt; reduction benefits. The tested bio-oil blend is however sensitive to EGR, where increasing the recirculation rate retards the combustion while the soot emissions increase almost five-fold over the non-EGR baseline.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;

Microbial Electrosynthesis-An Inventory on Technology Readiness Level and Performance of Different Process Variants.

The objective of microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is to combine the advantages of electrochemistry and biotechnology in order to produce chemicals and fuels. This combination enables resource-efficient processes by using renewable raw materials and regenerative energies. In the last decade, different MES processes have been described, for example, MES based on biofilms or mediators, electro-fermentation, and secondary MES. This review compares the MES technologies with regard to the reached process performances in terms of key process indicators (i.e., coulombic efficiency (CE), product titre, productivity) and technology readiness level (TRL). Often the underlying mechanism of electron transfer in biofilm-based processes has not been elucidated and can therefore not be optimized. Similarly, technical aspects of electro-fermentation processes and processes with soluble mediators are under investigation and techno-economic assessments are missing. In contrast, the electrochemical production of microbial substrates in secondary MES or hybrid systems show high key process indicators and TRLs up to 7. In summary, the different types of MES processes offer options for today's industrial use, as well as an exciting and future-oriented technology that can be applied in a medium-term perspective.

A self-integration testbed for decentralized socio-technical systems

The Internet of Things (IoT) comes along with new challenges for experimenting, testing, and operating decentralized socio-technical systems at large-scale. In such systems, autonomous agents interact locally with their users, and remotely with other agents to make intelligent collective choices. Via these interactions they self-regulate the consumption and production of distributed (common) resources, e.g., self-management of traffic flows and power demand in Smart Cities. While such complex systems are often deployed and operated using centralized computing infrastructures, the socio-technical nature of these decentralized systems requires new value-sensitive design paradigms; empowering trust, transparency, and alignment with citizens’ social values, such as privacy preservation, autonomy, and fairness among citizens’ choices. Currently, instruments and tools to study such systems and guide the prototyping process from simulation, to live deployment, and ultimately to a robust operation of a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL) are missing, or not practical in this distributed socio-technical context. This paper bridges this gap by introducing a novel testbed architecture for decentralized socio-technical systems running on IoT. This new architecture is designed for a seamless reusability of (i) application-independent decentralized services by an IoT application, and (ii) different IoT applications by the same decentralized service. This dual self-integration promises IoT applications that are simpler to prototype, and can interoperate with decentralized services during runtime to self-integrate more complex functionality, e.g., data analytics, distributed artificial intelligence. Additionally, such integration provides stronger validation of IoT applications, and improves resource utilization, as computational resources are shared, thus cutting down deployment and operational costs. Pressure and crash tests during continuous operations of several weeks, with more than 80K network joining and leaving of agents, 2.4M parameter changes, and 100M communicated messages, confirm the robustness and practicality of the testbed architecture. This work promises new pathways for managing the prototyping and deployment complexity of decentralized socio-technical systems running on IoT, whose complexity has so far hindered the adoption of value-sensitive self-management approaches in Smart Cities.

Food Waste Valorization Based on Anaerobic Digestion

The rapid urbanization that took place in the last 60 years has led to a dramatic increase in the generation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). The biodegradable fraction of MSW mainly consists of food waste (FW) and corresponds to about 50% of the total MSW. The disposal of FW in the environment has become a significant challenge. On the other hand, FW is an excellent substrate for anaerobic digestion (AD). This manuscript reviews the different AD technologies for the treatment of FW. Different types of bioreactors and pretreatment methods used to enhance methane production through AD of FW are discussed. The current review gives special emphasis on the methods for biogas upgrading and on technologies for FW digestate valorization. Food waste valorization through anaerobic digestion offers a wide variety of options in all process steps. From the pre-treatment of the feedstock and the selection of the suitable anaerobic digestion technology to the configuration of the process based on the desired products and the valorization of the generated digestate, the design of an integrated anaerobic digestion plant is a challenging task, which necessitates a systematic design. A systematic approach is necessary for FW valorization. The simple single-stage AD process leads to underutilization of the feedstock. There are plenty of available technologies that could be combined for the development of an integrated biorefinery that will be optimized in terms of FW valorization towards the production of biofuels and high-added value products, while introducing a circularity in the nutrients contained in the FW. FW-to-biofuel conversion technologies are high Technology Readiness Level (TRL—9) technologies and anaerobic digestion is applied worldwide at commercial scale.

The Double Donut Schmidt Camera for the cosmogenic neutrino detection

This work discusses a variation of the Double Donut Schmidt Camera (DDSC), originally proposed for the EUSO-FF (EUSO on Free Flyer) project and devoted to the observation of UHECRs from space with a threshold of about 5 * 1019 eV for a 600 km altitude. Increasing the entrance pupil area by a factor ~3, and then lowering the energy threshold to about 8 EeV (assuming for the differential energy spectrum of UHECR’s the index −2.7), the proposed system will allow the observation of some ‘cosmogenic neutrino’ events in the 1018–1019 eV range, where most of their flux is expected. The scalability of the DDSC design and the high Technological Readiness Level (TRL5) reached in the last decade for ultra-light, deployable, active mirrors does not set conceptual limits on the possible diameter of the primary mirror. We then propose to scale up the optics until the UV light detector in the focal plane will fill the whole diameter of the fairing of the considered launcher (4.2 m diameter assumed as in EUSO-FF baseline for Ariane 5/6 class). This will make necessary to deploy the corrector plate in orbit, in order to accommodate it into the fairing. This technology is still to be evaluated, but as the plate has a small refractive power, its tolerances are much broader than those of the primary mirror and it should be technologically feasible. With this upgrade, EUSO-FF, in addition to detecting more UHECR events, could also act as a precursor of a UHE neutrino observatory from space, addressing the problems to be faced for its realization.

Modifications to the MIRI cryocooler design to provide significant lift in the 2K to 4K range

A high Technology Readiness Level cryocooler with significant cooling in the 2K to 4K regime will enable a variety of missions ranging from large infrared space telescopes to superconducting and quantum applications. The cryocooler for the MIRI instrument on JWST was designed for operation at 6K, and with relatively minor changes this design can achieve significant lift in the 2K to 4K region. This paper provides curves of predicted lift vs. power for a variety of operating temperatures, based on the model anchored by tests of the MIRI cooler. The modifications are described, and their mass impacts are estimated. These mass and performance estimates enable payload and mission planners to explore new mission classes.

Open-Access Silicon Photonics Platforms in Europe

Offering open-access silicon photonics-based technologies has played a pivotal role in unleashing this technology from research laboratories to industry. Fabless enterprises rely on the open-access of these technologies for their product development. In the last decade, a diverse set of open-access technologies with medium and high technology readiness levels have emerged. This paper provides a review of the open-access silicon and silicon nitride photonic IC technologies offered by the pilot lines of European research institutes and companies. The paper also highlights upcoming features of these platforms and discusses how they address the long-term market needs.

Environmental applications of electrochemical technology. What is needed to enable full-scale applications?

Abstract In recent years, thousands of scientific articles have considered the application of electrochemical technologies to remediate environmental problems ranging from the treatment of polluted soils to the removal of hazardous species from industrial liquid wastes. New research topics continue to emerge. Despite such research efforts, the technology readiness level (TRL) for many of those technologies remains very low; although most are considered promising, many are far from being introduced as efficient processes into the market. Important barriers need to be overcome to reach high TRLs. Some of these are scientific or technological and generate the opportunity for critical, applied research. Others are related to the lack of components in the value chain of the technology and generate opportunities for entrepreneurs to benefit from an improvement in the TRL. In this short review, a brief description of the current state of the most relevant technologies which are still in low TRL is carried out, highlighting barriers that must be removed to achieve full-scale applications in industry.