Recently one of our AGGAT programme partners signalled the need to invest in a cost-effective control system for their Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) plant – a seemingly simple request… or was it?

Turns out, not so… Our research quickly showed us the reality of forging your way through territory unknown – globally there’s very few existing systems designed to adapt to our ORC technology pathway, and for those that exist the costs made it an unrealistic option for our members. So how to help drive R&D like this forward at such a critical phase?

Meeting at short notice, our solution was an internal AGGAT controls research team in collaboration with the University of Auckland. Focused on developing control logic and process control models developed internally within the AGGAT programme. it’s turned out to be not only a more cost-effective option but a valuable development experience for the team as a whole.

controls-research-team
From left: University of Auckland Control System Lead Researcher Dr Wei Yu, HERA Foundation Scholarship Recipient Shoulong Dong, our General Manager Industry Development Dr Boaz Habib, and University of Auckland Controls Technician Frank Wu at the Process Control lab facility at the university.

Very rarely do such plans fall together so easily – speaking volumes for the strong partnership models we’ve forged during our inception, agility of the team to adapt to research and development challenges, and the diverse expertise we have on tap.

Excitingly, this all translates into a member driven research platform that directly addresses challenges our members face – keeping your interests well-represented and under control at all times throughout the journey.

The AGGAT programme is now at an exciting transition point in its journey where it is able to offer support through an established research platform. We are seeking expressions of interest from member companies who wish to join us as part of its journey and who wish to avail of such support for their own business initiatives in engineering research.

For further information, contact our AGGAT Program Manager Dr Boaz Habib.