English summary of key articles

By Steward Clark

More expenditure on R&D

Ventilation units - problems or solutions?

The Internet as a channel for two-way communication

Popular gaspower

World-class power electronics to CERN

Fish and value creation

Water treed XLPE insulation

Wind power expertise

PSCC'99 was a success

More expenditure on R&D (Norwegian edition)
The new White Paper on Research shows that Norway is losing ground to comparable OECD countries in terms of its expenditure on R&D. The Norwegian government has decided to act to halt this trend and aims to increase funding for R&D by NOK 5 billion annually over the next five years. State appropriations will amount to NOK 2 billion and the rest is to come from industry. The government plans to concentrate on the energy sector as research involving energy and the environment is one of its four priority areas. Bringing ourselves in line with other countries' spending on applied research is not a valid objective for these moves. Rather, the concern is helping Norwegian industry to be internationally competitive in a market where the global challenge has become a fact of life. This means the recruitment of more highly skilled personnel and the building and extension of robust national and international networks and alliances.

Ventilation units - problems or solutions? (Norwegian edition)
One of most important factors that will mean a lot for public health is preventive work to help us enjoy healthy indoor climates that do not cause illness. As the aim is to have an indoor climate without any health risks, it will soon be compulsory for building contractors to carry out risk analyses related to health and the indoor climate when new buildings are being planned. At the moment, all too many of the problems we have with indoor pollution have existed from the commissioning of a building and come from the technical systems selected or component failures. Another area that must be addressed is the poor maintenance of ventilation systems.

The Internet as a channel for two-way communication (Norwegian edition)
In a few years the Internet can be a suitable channel for two-way communication. Using the infrastructure that has already been established, the present systems for two-way communication will become cheaper and more functional.

Popular gaspower (Norwegian edition)
A seminar that concentrated on the feasibility of zero-emissions from gaspower plants was obviously in the wind. There was even waiting list. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy was represented, ABB Alstom Power demonstrated their process for removing NOx from emissions. Statoil, Hydro and Aker Maritime presented their pet schemes for gaspower plants. In addition,

SINTEF and NTNU entered the debate with suggestions about the need for a national high-pressure combustion technology centre and a technological state-of-the-art review of the removal of CO2 from emissions.

World-class power electronics to CERN (Norwegian edition)
The power electronics group at SINTEF Energy Research and NTNU has supported the Danish company Danfysik in developing an ultrastable power supply used in CERN's particle research laboratories. This is a water-cooled, DC 20 kA power converter which has an accuracy of +/- 20 mA. SINTEF Energy Research has carried out a study which makes recommendations for the power supply configuration for CERN's new Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This has a 27 km circumference with superconducting materials operating at 1. 9 K.

Fish and value creation (Norwegian edition)
Everyone knows about Norway and its fish exports. One thing that few have realized is how little of the fish is actually processed in Norway. The commercial facts are as follows: Norwegian fish exports amount to about NOK 28 billion a year (1998). Of this, only 33% to 66% of the exported fish is consumed, the rest is thrown away. In addition, to get this fresh fish to markets, the ice involved in transport amounts to a third of the total weight. SINTEF Energy Research and NTNU are looking at some of these aspects. They have found that the 280 articulated trucks that roll out of Norway each week full of fresh salmon could be replaced by 110 vehicles if more processing was done in Norway and exports were in the form of frozen or refrigerated fillets. Also, as frozen products can be stored longer, this makes supply easier and the hectic pressure of getting fresh fish to market would become a thing of the past. The value creation will come both from better prices for processed, rather than raw fish, and in the utilization of valuable by-products used for feed or protein production that are being thrown away at present by restaurants and kitchens all over the world. An added advantage is that more skilled jobs would be required in Norway in areas where there is a shortage of work.

Water treed XLPE insulation (Norwegian edition)
Sverre Hvidsten has just taken a doctorate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in the nonlinear dielectric response of water treed XLPE insulation. This has concentrated on means of diagnostic testing. Norway has laid over 14 000 km of 12 and 24 kV cable in the last 30 years. Outages in cables installed before 1980 are increasing because of water treeing and at present there is no accepted diagnostic method for monitoring the condition of such underground cable. Sverre Hvidsten's research has helped us to understand the physical degradation processes on the insulation better and he has developed a theory to explain the nonlinear dielectric responses. This has been supported by numerical calculations. Sverre Hvidsten is a research scientist at SINTEF Energy Research.

Wind power expertise (Norwegian edition)
SINTEF Energy Research, the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are now in the process of establishing a centre for wind power expertise combined with a test station in mid-Norway. The centre will run tests to determine cost-effective wind power alternatives suited to Norwegian conditions and thus help to put this renewable form of energy on a commercial footing. The centre will also monitor progress in this field at home and abroad and help higher education in Norway to become involved through projects and doctoral work.

PSCC’99 was a success (Norwegian edition)
13^th Power Systems Computation Conference took place at NTNU, Trondheim, June 28 – July 2^nd, 1999, organised locally by NTNU and SINTEF Energy Research supported also by a secretariat set up by SEVU. Approximately 350 people, including accompanying persons attended the conference. The participants unanimously expressed their satisfaction with the conference and the local arrangements, and this gives NTNU and SINTEF Energy Research an excellent international reference and reputation.