Results and submissions : REF 2021

Lancaster University research improves the monitoring, control and optimisation of ...

Submitting institution: The University of Lancaster
Unit of assessment: 8 - Chemistry
Summary impact type: Technological
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?: No

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1. Summary of the impact

Fundamental research into the behaviour of particles suspended in liquids by Lancaster University (LU) researchers has resulted in a number of applications in an industrial context with wide ranging impacts. These include impacts through two companies and related Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs):

Process Instruments (PI): A new sensor for monitoring suspended solids in wastewater was developed as part of a KTP and applied research by LU researchers, leading to two new products (SoliSense® and TurbSense®) manufactured by a specialist manufacturing company, called PI. These sensors have the highest specification in terms of range and linearity of any similar commercial sensors worldwide. Since their launch in 2018, sales of over 660 sensors have exceeded GBP620,000.

Crown Paints: LU researchers have engaged in applied research to help Crown Paints reduce waste production from its paint manufacturing process at its Darwen and Hull plants, affecting millions of litres of paint it produces across both sites each week. Impacts include:

GBP113,000 per annum saved in the cost of reagents used to remove paint particles from the wastewater they produce across its operations at its Darwen and Hull plants ( totalling 30,000 tonnes annually).
GBP145,000 invested in the construction and commissioning of a new waste paint processing plant at their Darwen and Hull manufacturing sites, following the recommendations of the KTP project between Crown Paints and Lancaster University. This includes investment in the enhancement of water metering throughout the Darwin manufacturing site, which has enabled a full inventory of water usage and the optimisation of wastewater treatment.
Analysis by LU of magnolia matt emulsion paint produced using recycled water, rather than clean water, showed no adverse effects in terms of colour and opacity and is being adopted into their manufacturing process.
A new robust model that provides extensive analysis of the dewatering filtration process, yielding the vital physico-chemical parameters of yield stress and diffusivity for the solid waste “cake” produced [3.5].
Paint surface analysis using the SEM/EDX at LU has led to a new technique to assist future R&D approaches to paint formulation and to the diagnosis of mechanisms of paint failure.

2. Underpinning research

The amelioration and disposal of wastewater streams is one of the most frequently used industrial processes in the world. For the paints industry, it is a significant source of cost, meaning all companies are seeking to optimise existing processes; waste disposal processes are also under intense scrutiny from an environental perspective, making the process of wastewater from the paint industry an essential focal point for applied research at LU.

Fielden has specialised in the development of chemical sensing systems for industrial applications. He has also researched more recently into ultrasonic-based techniques for efficient removal of suspended particles in water [3.1]; and the potential for electrochemical removal of dyestuffs from wastewater [3.2, 3.3]. The applications of the novel light-scattering sensor technology to wastewater monitoring as part of the KTP [G2] programme with Process Instruments Ltd, provided detailed insight into monitoring and control systems for treating particle-laden wastewater, including paint waste.

Martin is an experienced chemical engineer split between industry (15 years in commodity chemicals and water) and academia. During his career, he has worked on solid-liquid separations for systems as diverse as water treatment, mineral “slimes” dumps and antiperspirant specialising in the development of rigorous design methods [3.4], techniques for modelling and optimising systems)

Applications to partner projects

This Impact Case Study concerns three research projects that address the monitoring of suspended solids in treatment of wastewater (Process Instruments); a move towards a circular economy with paint waste (Nimtech); and the elimination of waste in paint manufacture (Crown Paints). The three projects are linked, as the preliminary feasibility study with Nimtech (“Paint Loop” MRes joint funded by Nimtech (GBP30,000) and the Centre for Global Eco-innovation (CGE) at Lancaster University (LU)) was based at Crown Paints (Darwen site) who provided the source of paint waste. This encouraged Crown Paints to engage in a more substantial programme with LU [G1] A parallel programme between LU and Process Instruments [G2] developed a sensing platform for monitoring suspended solids in wastewater. The technical knowledge of PI concerning the dosing of particle-laden waste with aluminium sulfate and polyclay, led to sharing of their understanding and best practice with the Crown Paints project, through the common project principal investigator (Fielden).

This combined expertise of Fielden and Martin, along with an earlier feasibility study on paint waste with Nimtech Ltd (Fielden as Principal Investigator, Wardrop as the RA), where Crown Paints Ltd were the third-party collaborator, catalysed Crown Paints (Darwin, Lancashire) to enter a partnership funded through a KTP grant [G1] (Fielden as Principal Investigator, Martin as Co. Investigator, and Wardrop as RA). This was the first research grant between Crown Paints and LU, and indeed, the first major grant-funded research partnership between Crown Paints and a UK university in its 250-year history.

One of the higher volume waste streams is wastewater (effluent) from Crown’s two manufacturing sites based at Darwen and Hull, which totals approximately 30,000 tonnes annually. Despite the huge quantities, the effluent is pre-treated in effluent treatment plants at both sites before being piped for secondary water treatment. Crown’s effluent treatment plants also produce a by-product from this process themselves, which although currently regarded as waste has potential value which is yet to be utilised. Our research has worked to help reduce the volume of this effluent at source, to understand the underlying chemistry of the waste treatment process leading to its optimisation and associated cost reduction, whilst investigating possible uses for the biproduct [3.5]. The key elements of the research carried out within the KTP project with Crown Paints include:

The compilation of a full inventory of all water used on the Darwen site (including a considerable component of rainwater that also ends up in the waste stream): This has informed Laboratory-based experimental investigations by Lancaster University researchers, including: chemical analysis of small-scale paint formulation and recycling of the recovered water into the primary paint production, revealing that recycled water did not adversely affect the properties of the paint: using magnolia matt emulsion paint (the company’s highest-volume product), colour and opacity tests showed an insignificant change to the optical properties of the paint formulated with recycled water. Findings published in [3.5]
The investigation of possible alternative dewatering technologies: Apart from the filter press, which is currently used, centrifugation was considered as a possible alternative. (Initially, ultrasound precipitation [3.1] was also considered, but measurement of the particle size distribution in typical paint waste ruled this out). No other technologies came near to the filter press or centrifugation in a literature and patent review conducted by Lancaster University.
Pilot laboratory studies into the electrochemical removal of paint dyes from wastewater [3.2; 3.3] were carried out on dilute solutions of dyes used in the colouration of Crown’s paint products, followed by direct electrochemical processing of dye-laden paint wastewater. Whilst the results demonstrated some reduction in the dye components, the process was not sufficiently efficient to warrant further investigation or scale-up.
An analysis/optimisation of the chemistry of the coagulation/flocculation process, to reduce waste and improve efficiency: The optimisation research identified a much ‘leaner’ combination of aluminium sulfate and polyclay provided the desired coagulation/ flocculation [3.5]. This element of research was underpinned by expertise from Process Instruments, who provided comprehensive technical information of the underlying chemistry of aluminium sulfate-based coagulation, and its control for the removal of particulate matter from wastewater. This was the major research study of the KTP programme. It led to the construction of a laboratory-scale “mimic” of the filter press system, with an added automatic and programmable control for the pressure-applied piston, which forces the flocculated waste within a cylindrical chamber through a circle of the same filtration membrane material used in the full-scale filter press. The laboratory instrument also recorded the linear progression of the piston in the cylinder, as the flocculated waste was dewatered at constant, or programmed, applied pressure. The pressure, linear displacement, and time data were then analysed by a new model developed as part of the project. This model demonstrated the efficacy of the scaled down filter press mimic and led to the provision of vital physico-chemical parameters that revealed how different formulations of the reagents would influence the “yield stress” and “diffusivity” of the solid waste “cake” formation. Three principal formulations of low, medium and high polyclay dosing have been described in the associated publication [3.5].

4. Details of the impact

4.1 Design and introduction of novel technologies for the measurement of suspended solids in liquids and its commercial uptake – Process Instruments

Process Instruments (PI) Ltd are a SME who specialise in the measurement and control of water disinfection (potable and swimming pools), and the measurement and control of particle removal from potable and wastewater through coagulation and flocculation methodology. The desire to manufacture their own particle sensors, instead of relying on other commercially available devices from third-party suppliers Stemmed from the fact that, prior to the KTP programme with Lancaster University, there was no single sensor on the market that could span the range of 2NTU to 8% particle concentration; two separate sensors were required to achieve the same effect.

Optimisation of the chemistry of the coagulation and flocculation processes by Lancaster University [3.5] within the KTP programme, led by Fielden, resulted in the successful development of a particle sensor that could monitor the range of 2 NTU to 8% particle concentration, with significantly superior stability, linearity and dynamic range compared with any current commercially available particle sensor for deployment in both potable and waste waters. This enabled PI to launch two new products: SoliSense® [5.1] and Turbsense® [5.2]. Turbsense® is a further variant of the SoliSense® device, which has given Process Instruments a sensor design that covers extremely low concentrations of particles in water (0 to 10NTU). The sensor designs are very similar but adjusted for very low particle concentrations and combined with a specialised water sampling device (developed internally by Process Instruments as a follow-on to the KTP project) to eliminate the errors associated with micro-bubbles.

SoliSense has the greatest dynamic range of any commercial particle sensor and is a unique selling point, since third-party end users only need to purchase a single sensor, which reduces both initial cost and halves maintenance costs thereafter. Furthermore, the linearity of the sensor developed through [G2] has enabled the subsequent development of a novel patented algorithm [5.3] that fully compensates for drift, which is a significant problem with conventional suspended solids sensors. Since their launch in 2018, both SoliSense® and Turbsense® are manufactured by PI at their Burnley factory, and have sold over 660 sensors with sales exceeding GBP620,000 to end users in 24 countries [5.4].

4.2 Improved awareness and understanding of waste generation in paint manufacture resulting in changes in practice and process at Crown Paints

The partnership between Lancaster University researchers and Crown Paints was initially motivated by the company’s ambition to reduce the waste it generated as part of the paint manufacturing process, with the goal of becoming a net-zero waste paint manufacturer [5.5i-ii]. New water metering systems were installed at critical points in the manufacturing plant to gain the first accurate inventory of clean water usage and wastewater generation. This inventory enabled a clearer understanding of the origins and volumes of the paint waste streams, and the frequency of their generation throughout a production cycle and over the calendar year. The findings showed that Crown generated around 30,000 tonnes of wastewater (effluent), and 120 tonnes of waste paint per year [5.5i].

Initial research focussed on the chemistry of particle removal from paint waste, through the addition of the key reagents of aluminium sulfate and polyclay, and on the importance of pH control. This research was carried out using a jar test in the Crown Paints analytical development laboratory. The understanding of how reagent dosing influenced the flocculation of the particulate waste was assisted through technical advice and drew on equipment provided by Process Instruments [5.4]. This important link between the companies was inaugurated by Fielden, as Principal Investigator to both research programmes, who realised the potential benefits to the Crown Paints project of the more effective particle-sensing technology developed by PI.

This detailed understanding allowed trials and optimisation of a modified dosing chemistry to be carried out (in particular, determination of the minimum amounts required of aluminium sulfate and polyclay to deliver efficient flocculation) within the treatment plants at Darwen and Hull. Consequently, the dosing chemistry practices were changed at both Darwen and Hull (affecting over a million litres of paint manufactured each week across the two sites) based on the KTP studies, grounded in the technical expertise provided by Process Instruments and the research expertise of Fielden and Martin from Lancaster University, which has given an annual saving in reagent costs of GBP113,000 pa. [5.6]. This may be broken down into Darwen: (GBP20,000 pa caustic washings; GBP10,000 pa polymer washings; GBP5,000 pa in lower polyclay dosing; GBP18,000 pa in the reduction of plant washing due to increased process efficiency) and Hull: (GBP40,000 pa in reduced polyclay and aluminium sulfate consumption due to optimisation of the reagent formulation in waste filter cake generation).

4.3 Fundamental research into the optimisation of the flocculation chemistry and the improved efficiency of dewatering by filter press.

Novel benchtop apparatus, designed and constructed by Fielden and Martin, allowed for systematic research by Crown and Lancaster University into the interplay between the reagent chemistry and a range of particle-laden paint waste from representative streams at the Darwen and Hull plants). This apparatus provided detailed data of the dewatering process, which led to the development of a mathematical model that could evaluate the compression data to yield the key physicochemical parameters of yield stress and diffusivity of the solid “cake” waste generated by the dewatering process [3.5]. The outcome of this fundamental research was an optimised formulation for the Crown Paints Effluent Treatment Plants.

Thanks to the insights granted by the benchtop test apparatus, alternative dewatering processes were considered as part of the KTP programme, including ultrasonic sedimentation and centrifugation. Centrifugation was considered the closest competitor to the filter press, which resulted in a 6-month evaluation of a pilot centrifuge system by Crown at their Darwen site. This study showed that the filter press was the most efficient dewatering technology for the removal of particulates from paint waste. Subsequently, the wastewater treatment plant at the Darwen site was renewed at a cost of GBP55,000, and at the Hull site for GBP70,000 to reflect the outcome of the main element of the KTP programme [5.6].

4.4 Applied research into the recycling of solid paint waste leading to a reduction is waste production

Another project investigated both the recycling of the paint waste “cake” generated by the filter press and the water filtrate. The cake waste is currently sent to landfill but has been shown through the KTP programme to have applications as a “bulking” agent in the manufacture of external masonry paint, which is being acted on by the company to “to realise the economic and environmental benefits” [5.5i-ii]. Laboratory-scale research showed that recycled water from the filter press process could be used in the manufacture of magnolia paint (the major paint type manufactured by the company) without detrimental effects on the paint colour and opacity. This finding has already shaped Crown’s knowledge of the process, has helped to reduce waste production in the paint manufacturing of particular products, and is being rolled out across Crown’s large-scale, complex manufacturing process which includes over a million litres of paint produced weekly [5.5i-ii] and [5.6].

Unplanned in the original KTP programme, it became apparent that the partnership between Crown and Lancaster University could also benefit the company through access to specialist equipment at the Chemistry Department at LU. Specifically, the polymer development scientists benefitted from access to our Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (Jeol JSM-7800F plus Oxford Instruments Xmax-50 EDS) with which they were able to evaluate novel emulsion paint formulations for the structure of the emulsion and the distribution of fillers, such as TiO₂ [5.6]. Whilst it is difficult to quantify this element of impact, the findings have been presented to the parent Hempel Group by Craig Wood, and represent a new approach to the evaluation of future paint formulations, referenced in recent company reports as having, and the diagnosis of the failure of paint formulations [5.5ii and 5.6].

Lancaster University research results in a step change in UK and global battery insurance ...

Submitting institution: The University of Lancaster
Unit of assessment: 8 - Chemistry
Summary impact type: Technological
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?: No

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1. Summary of the impact

Lancaster University’s research on lithium-ion battery degradation directly led to the formation of the spin-out company Altelium in 2019, [text removed for publication]

with first–year trading income of GBP121,000. Backed by Lloyd’s of London, Altelium insures energy storage containers based on used electric vehicle batteries. This is a rare instance of the financial services sector becoming a beneficiary of a strategic technology research programme aligned with the Government’s “Batteries for Britain” initiative. The availability of Altelium’s insurance–based battery warranty has enabled SMEs in the UK’s emerging battery industry, such as Connected Energy, AMTE Power (formerly AGM Batteries), Delta Motorsports, and Brill Power to enter the rapidly growing energy storage market.

Connected Energy rolled out their first batch of Mega-Watt (MW)-level energy storage systems with an Altelium warranty, and AMTE are growing their larger-scale cell manufacturing provision.

2. Underpinning research

Impact has arisen from lithium-ion-batteries (LIBs) research by the interdisciplinary team at Lancaster University’s Battery Laboratory (BatLab), led by Hoster. The research has directly enabled a new method of informing insurance risk calculation, with potential global reach.

Battery warranty presented two novel challenges for the insurance market: (i) chemically driven performance loss (typical for batteries), which had not been encountered as a basis for insurance risk calculation (the main ones being mechanical fatigue and electronic failure), and

(ii) historical data on battery performance had been too scarce, given that EV mass production only started in 2010 and the pace of new battery cells entering the market.

The lack of historical data was tackled by scientifically informed battery lifetime predictions along with real-time monitoring of batteries in the field. The underpinning research has made three distinct contributions:

A robust model to predict battery degradation, accounting for cycles and time [G1-G3];
A new cell model based on lab performance tests and identification of the internal chemical processes that cause performance fade (see Section 4 and [G2]);
Data encryption and machine learning capabilities for battery remote monitoring and the interpretation of incoming real-world data (‘battery status estimation’), which validates and improves prior risk calculations [G3].

This approach begins with fundamental battery research and then relies on multi-scale modelling and model parameterisation [G1] to turn those insights into prognostic tools. Via two Innovate UK projects [G2-G3], those tools were validated in commercial battery cells and then utilised to address performance and capacity fade.

Batteries from fundamentals to applications.

The atomistic understanding of processes occurring in battery cells [3.2, 3.6] allowed the BatLab team to improve non-intrusive diagnostics of LIBs [3.1, 3.3-3.6]. This fundamental research is part of the Multi-Scale Modelling consortium funded by the Faraday Institution [G1]. It includes modelling the spatial distributions of Li atoms in LIB electrodes using electron structure theory

and Monte-Carlo simulations [3.2]. These simulations explain the changes in LIB cell voltage during charge and discharge [3.2], which is the feature most used to track battery state-of- charge and state-of-health [3.1, 3.3, 3.5]. Improvements were also made in the method of ‘entropy profiling’, which measures the changes of free energy, entropy, and enthalpy in a LIB during charge and discharge. By reducing measurement time from weeks to hours, the method was made viable for diagnostics of commercial cells [3.6]. In a recent study [3.2], entropy profiling enabled us to shed new light on the well documented but poorly understood phenomenon of voltage hysteresis at graphite electrodes, which is crucial for the reliable estimation of battery status.

In a 2015 project with BMW [3.4], Hoster et al. also studied the formation of the solid electrolyte interphase, an electrochemical process that is necessary for the stabilisation of the graphite electrode after manufacturing but also leads to long-term degradation [3.4].

Commercial battery cells and their diagnosis [3.1, 3.3, 3.5, and 3.6] became the focus through a 2015 collaboration with Technical University Munich [3.5 and 3.6]. That opened the door for Innovate UK funded industry-oriented projects [G2, 3], starting with the ‘UK Niche Vehicle Battery Cell Supply Chain’ [G2] consortium led by AMTE power (formerly AGM Batteries). Here, important trends in how battery operation influences the pace of battery degradation were found. For instance, if two battery cells are left on ‘idle’ for 12 months, both will lose capacity due to so- called calendar ageing [3.1]. If one cell is charged to 70% and the other is fully discharged (0 %), then the former will lose 4 times more capacity than the latter; a third cell charged to 100% may even develop internal short-circuits. Likewise, it was possible to quantify how battery degradation is impacted by charge/discharge rates, upper and lower voltage limits, and temperature [3.1, 3.3 and 3.5]. Those insights formed the basis of the algorithms and parameters behind Altelium’s battery insurance products.

Project Pozibot: battery data capturing, authentication, and analysis.

Early in the Niche Vehicle Battery project [G2] (July 2018), LU hosted a meeting with AMTE Power (lead partner and a battery manufacturer), Delta Motorsports, and the insurance company CNC Asset Ltd. AMTE power and Delta Motorsports stated an urgent need for insurance-based warranties for battery packs, and CNC Asset confirmed that no such products existed so far.

Hoster then led a consortium to tackle that challenge, via the Innovate UK funded project ‘Pozibot’ [G3], in response to the call ‘Transforming Accountancy, Insurance and Legal Services with AI and Data’. Pozibot not only addressed battery diagnostics, but also topics like quantum- based data encryption and asset tagging (Robert Young and QuantumBase), risk calculation (Hoster group and Altelium), machine learning (Plamen Angelov), and algorithm-based decision making (Hoster group and Altelium). This paved the way for an algorithm-driven ‘insuretech’ platform that detects faults automatically from remote data, offers predictive maintenance as a service to warranty clients and updates and adjusts risk and pricing models automatically for future contracts. Altelium Ltd. was created in May 2019, i.e., shortly after project Pozibot was awarded.

A parallel collaboration with Prof Katy Mason from the Lancaster University Management School involved the supervision of one PhD student and one Masters-by-Research student on the topic of energy-storage systems based on second-life electric vehicle batteries (see reference 5.4).

That collaboration helped identify the immediate market opportunity and further potential customers, which triggered the founding of Altelium Ltd. and the first client services agreements.

In summary, the research in the Lancaster BatLab (spanning a broad research area, from atomic scale phenomena, to lifetime predictions of commercial batteries), funded via the Faraday Institution and Innovate UK within the strategic Batteries for Britain initiative, has resulted in new ‘extended warranty’ products in the global insurance market. The impact of this strategic research funding has therefore boosted not only the science and technology sector, but also the financial services industry.

3. References to the research

3.1 Communication—Identifying and managing reversible capacity losses that falsify cycle ageing tests of lithium-ion cells. Burrell, R., Aragon Zülke, A., Keil, P., Hoster, H., 15/10/2020 Journal of The Electrochemical Society 167, 130544, https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abbce1

3.2 Voltage hysteresis during lithiation/delithiation of graphite associated with meta-stable carbon stackings. Mercer, M.P., Peng, C., Soares, C., Hoster, H., Kramer, D., 27/11/2020 Journal of Materials Chemistry A, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0TA10403E

3.3 Communication—Why high-precision coulometry and lithium plating studies on commercial lithium-ion cells require thermal baths. Aragon Zülke, A., Li, P., Keil, P., Hoster, H., 26/08/2019 Journal of The Electrochemical Society 166, A2921, https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0841913jes

3.4 Solid electrolyte interphase: Can faster formation at lower potentials yield better performance? Antonopoulos, B.K., Stock, C, Maglia, F., Hoster, H., 04/2018 Electrochimica Acta 269, p. 331-339. 9 p. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2018.03.007

3.5 Simulation and measurement of local potentials of modified commercial cylindrical cells: I. Cell preparation and measurements. Osswald, P.J., Erhard, S.V., Wilhelm, J., Hoster, H., Jossen, A. 5/08/2015 Journal of the Electrochemical Society 162, 10, p. A2099-A2105. 7 p. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0561510jes

3.6 Fast and accurate measurement of entropy profiles of commercial lithium-ion cells. Osswald, P.J., del Rosario, M., Garche, J., Jossen, A., Hoster, H. 20/09/2015 Electrochimica Acta 177, p. 270-276. 7p https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2015.01.191

The battery-related publications out of the Hoster group since 2015 have so far attracted >450 citations. Awards: ‘Most innovative project’ prize by The Faraday Institution on 2018-11-07 for the presentation ‘Atomistic modelling and experimental validation of voltage and entropy profiling in Li-ion cells’ (Dr Michael Mercer).

Grants:

G1. Multi-scale modelling, since 2018, consortium led by Imperial College, one of four fast-start projects funded by The Faraday Institution Lancaster Academics: Harry Hoster (Chemistry) and Denes Csala (Engineering). Grant: GBP1.821million.

G2. UK Niche Vehicle Battery Cell Supply Chain (led by AGM Batteries), Innovate UK project No. 104183, Competition title ‘Faraday Challenge Batteries Innovation Batteries Phase 2 - Growth (Challenge Led Funding).’ Lancaster share of grant: GBP601,000.

G3. PoziBot: Insure-tech solutions for Extended Battery Warranty (led by CNC Asset and Altelium Ltd.), Innovate UK project No. 104815. Lancaster share of grant: GBP527,000.

4. Details of the impact

4.1. Impact on the financial services and insurance industry, and the creation of a new spin-out company Altelium:

Lancaster University (LU) spin-out Altelium Ltd. was founded in 2019 in response to an early market opportunity identified in the preparation phase of project Pozibot (section 3). Altelium Ltd. interfaces the chemically driven uncertainties about battery degradation to risk calculations as common at the London insurance market. That interface is reflected by the three founding directors and their backgrounds Prof Harry Hoster (Lancaster Chemistry), Charley Grimston (CNC Asset, insurance), and John Pesmazoglou (Helestia, insurance).

The novelty of battery warranty to the insurance market is down to two facts (see statement 5.5):

Chemically driven performance loss, as typical for batteries, was not established as a basis of insurance risk calculation (as opposed to mechanical fatigue or electronic failure).
Historical data on battery performance was too scarce, given that EV mass production only started in 2010, and given the pace of new battery cells entering the market.

Altelium Ltd. brought a new ‘extended warranty’ product (Battery Energy Storage System Warranty) [5.1] to the London Insurance Market. The underpinning risk calculations are based on the Lancaster BatLab’s research results about the chemical processes of battery degradation [3.1-3.4] in combination with the jointly developed data science and machine learning tools [G3]. The UK Faraday Institution stated in a recent report: “through the creation of Altelium, the power of battery data can now be harnessed. Real time information about battery State of Health, enhanced by AI technology, has been packaged together in a secure platform, which is accessible and practical for customers who need to make investment or operation decisions about Electric Vehicle batteries” [5.1, 5.6].

As of November 2020, Altelium has 20 employees. Data experts Judith Elgie and Jazz Kirkwood are co-located in the premises of Energy Lancaster and are thus embedded in the research activities of the Lancaster BatLab. Battery experts Prof Harry Hoster (Altelium co-founder) and Dr Alana Aragon Z0lke are affiliated with LU and Altelium. All other employees (software, operations, claims handling, finances, business development) are based in Finmere, Buckinghamshire.

Since its founding, Altelium has raised investments worth GBP390,000 from its founding shareholders and won GBP806,560 of research grants. As of November 2020, income from first customers (Connected Energy, and AMTE power) has been GBP121,000. [text removed for publication]. [5.5] Altelium is determined to position itself to grow in support of UK and worldwide green energy initiatives and is poised to expand its team to maintain growth in line with international momentum. From 2021 onwards, Altelium expects income to reach GBP590,000, GBP2.117 million, and GBP4.095 million per annum, respectively [5.5]. Altelium's income projections ("Net Worth Premium") are GBP0.7million, GBP4million, and GBP13million for years 2021, 2022, and 2023 [5.1, 5.5]. Altelium's Battery Energy Storage System Warranty is continuously improved to meet the demands of customers. Those demands grow and diversify, given the rapid growth of the Energy Storage market (also due to the UK's Green Growth strategy) and the rising wave of used electric vehicle batteries that become available for stationary energy storage ('second life').

On the Lloyd's of London side, work is progressing toward securing the first capital provider to financially underwrite the new insurance product created by the LU team and Altelium - an extended warranty for a set of energy storage containers based on used electrical vehicle batteries ('second life'). Negotiations started in November 2019 and are ongoing, with the aim of creating the foundations for a co-designed battery warranty underwriting model. This represents a first of its kind globally and is a crucial milestone in the wider roll out of green technology [5.2].

The Lancaster BatLab underpins trust relationships between Altelium and their customers and capital providers by ensuring that Altelium's algorithms and assumptions are founded on world leading research. This includes the provision of informed modifications of the warranty products as required for new battery cell models or different battery usage patterns.

4.2 Supporting SMEs into the electric vehicles and stationary battery storage markets: Insurance-backed extended warranty allows SMEs to offer their customers longer (e.g. five-year) warranties on their products (e.g. energy storage containers that contain second-life electric vehicle batteries). Without such warranty, their products are not eligible for many 828 procurement processes, thus limiting their market chances. SMEs (with their rather slim balance sheets) can offer longer term ('extended') warranties only when backed by an insurance company with access to sufficient capital. Companies like Altelium and CNC Asset act as translators between warranty needs of technically oriented businesses and the large-capital insurers (e.g., in the Lloyd's of London syndicates) by creating technically informed risk calculation and pricing.

The creation of Altelium and much of the work conducted by the LU team was motivated initially by the desire to provide support to those SMEs and green-tech start-ups with which it was engaged [G2-G3], including: Connected Energy, AMTE Power (formerly AGM Batteries), Delta Motorsports, and Brill Power. For AMTE Power as an emerging player in battery cell manufacturing in the UK, the availability of insurance-based battery warranty is essential "if AMTE are to leverage the output of the Innovate UK funded project and establish a successful and commercially viable niche cell manufacturing facility in the UK" [5.3]. Connected Energy (www.c\-e\-int.com\) is a UK SME, specialising on the utilisation of second-life battery packs in stationary energy storage solutions. Connected Energy confirmed that Altelium's 'Battery Energy Storage System Warranty' removed the principle roadblock from their entry into the energy storage market: "Our collaboration with Altelium and Lancaster University was critical for achieving an extended warranty that satisfies our customers' needs to evaluate our products as a desirable investment case. This has a/read led to a successful bid for a large, 2nd- life ESS and we expect more to come soon” [5.4 and 5.5]. The fast adaptation of that product for the special demands of second-life batteries was only possible via (i) a Client Services Agreement worth GBP95,000 signed between Altelium and Connected Energy in April 2020 and (ii) underpinning contract research and consultancy by the Lancaster BatLab team funded by Altelium and CNC Asset. Connected Energy and other Altelium clients expect to install several thousand second-life battery packs (with a total power of more than 250 MW) in the next three years [5.5], which could not proceed without the new warranty product.

4.3 Environmental impact:

The new battery warranty product and the work of LU and Altelium, has enabled companies and investors to more easily venture into the battery market, leading to enhanced growth and better market access for Electric Vehicle (EV), energy storage, and green technology producers [5.1- 5.6].

A faster deployment of energy storage solution and of clean transport in business setting has an even bigger environmental impact than the electrification of private cars. Whereas the latter are typically parked for 90% of their time, energy storage systems and business-related vehicles are constantly in use. Clean air in ports, warehouses, and airports will strongly benefit from that transition. The UK’s GBP2.5 billion ‘Green Growth Strategy’ (announced in November 2020) will further boost the deployment of solar and wind energy installations, whose power variability is a key driver for energy storage installations. Our enabling of faster deployment of ‘second-life’ battery storage systems is essential for the circular economy of Li ion batteries, where maximising the useful life is an important component.

As the Faraday Institution’s Head of Engagement has stated with regards to the hurdles facing the transition to green energy sources: “Major barriers... hold back battery producers and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers from having the confidence in the state of battery health to a level that can be warranted. The depth of information needed around battery history, changes to the battery chemistry and the impacts on future performance to underpin a battery warranty – or investment decisions in them – has not been readily available” until now, thanks to research by Lancaster University and Altelium [5.6]. Empowering new players on the second-life market (including SMEs) will ensure that battery packs with their expensive and partially hazardous components are accounted for throughout their life cycle, and eventually feed into verified and clean material recycling processes [5.4]. Lastly, our newly created link between battery science and technology on the one hand and financial services on the other will ensure that the ‘Green Growth Strategy’ will not only benefit the environment and the technical sector of the industry, but also the financial services sector, the central economic stronghold of the United Kingdom [5.1].

Transforming the assessment of global health risks from chemical exposures through ...

Submitting institution: The University of Lancaster
Unit of assessment: 8 - Chemistry
Summary impact type: Political
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?: No

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1. Summary of the impact

There is divergence in international regulatory policies on the safety of chemicals and the risks associated with their use or exposure. Lancaster University Researchers have adapted systematic review methods (SRMs) into chemical risk assessment protocols to improve chemical risk policy and reduce uncertainty. This was achieved through a consensus-building process with scientists and stakeholders to foster adoption of these methods followed by the development of protocols, methods and standards. Our work has been used to improve the hazard protocol of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for bisphenol-A, a widely-used chemical substance (1.25Mt per annum in the EU), and the regulatory requirements for endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the EU’s Biocidal Products Regulation (528/2012). Our SRM training programmes resulted in changes to the assessment of scientific evidence in the development of global evidence-based health guidelines by the United Nations World Health & International Labour Organisations (WHO/ILO) responsible for establishing the global burden of disease from occupational environmental exposures. Our quality appraisal tools (COSTER/CREST), which ensure best practice for implementing SRMs in environmental health, have now been used in over 50 published reviews by over 1000 researchers worldwide and have shaped journal publishing practices.

2. Underpinning research

There is controversy surrounding the chemical risk assessment (CRA) of glyphosate (‘Roundup’), bisphenol-A (BPA) and other ‘everyday’ chemicals, with reputable scientific organisations disputing their health risks – even with access to the same evidence. Initial research into how risk assessment methods used by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for BPA compared to 'gold-standard' methods utilised in medicine suggested systemic shortcomings in appraisal practices. These rely on narrative reviews that are inconsistent, in that: review objectives are not sufficiently clearly stated; methods for locating data are not consistently given; the criteria for selecting data for analysis are incompletely stated; how studies are evaluated for quality appears to be neither transparent nor consistent; and, the synthesis and presentation of results is unclear. These shortcomings could explain why such differing opinions on the health risks of BPA and other chemicals exist within the scientific community.

A policy document authored by Paul Whaley called Systematic review and the future of evidence in chemicals policy (2013) provided the first technical analysis comparing European chemical risk assessment practices to the ‘gold-standard’ systematic review methods (SRMs) used in medicine. Subsequently, in 2013, Paul joined Professor Crispin Halsall’s research group as a PhD student to investigate how the current shortcomings in CRA could be overcome by the adoption of a systematic review methodology. The review methodology approach ensured that the appraisal of evidence is conducted in a systematic way so as to reduce bias, recognise uncertainty and provide, where possible, unambiguous answers based on all of the evidence available.

In 2014/15, with the support of the Royal Society of Chemistry, we gathered leading experts from regulatory agencies, NGOs and industrial and academic sectors to develop a strategic framework for introducing systematic review practices to CRA [3.1]. This multi-stakeholder exploration of the application of SRMs to CRA developed a consensus view on the potential benefits of adopting SRMs and provided strategic recommendations for promoting SRM uptake. This is relevant in the wider context of utilising SRM for the appraisal of scientific information by expert committees, who provide governmental or regulatory guidance for risk management policy in environmental health.

The adoption of SRMs in the appraisal of primary studies on endocrine (hormone system) disrupting chemicals (EDCs) resulted in a robust framework for assessing evidence from multiple streams of research (e.g. in-vivo, in-vitro, epidemiology) in the assignment of a substance as an EDC [3.2]. Research into SRMs and their application to the environmental sciences resulted in the development of a set of reporting standards (Reporting Standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses – ROSES) that ensure that meta-analyses and systematic reviews are reported consistently and to a very high level of detail [3.3]. In turn, these reporting standards ensure reliable synthesis of often disparate and growing bodies of evidence (e.g. epidemiology vs. in-vitro assay data) required for evidence-informed decision making. ROSES is designed to accommodate the diversity of methods applied to a wide-variety of review subjects and reflects the heterogeneity and inter-disciplinarity of topics such as the conservation and environmental management field.

The application of systematic evidence mapping as a technique for evaluating the ‘evidence landscape’ with regard to chemical exposure and toxicity has been demonstrated [3.4]. This method provides a step change in evidence-gathering by providing a comprehensive, queryable summary of a large body of policy-relevant research to aid chemical risk management. Systematic evidence maps (SEMs) provide a broad and comprehensive overview of an evidence base and facilitate the identification of trends which can be used to inform more efficient systematic reviews or more targeted primary research. Evidence mapping applied to CRA is a technique that draws into consideration all data which are relevant to chemicals policy and risk management, which leads to large, interconnected but heterogeneous databases. Locating, organising, and evaluating all relevant data is challenging when the quantity of that data is very large and growing exponentially. Therefore, to make full use of these data Halsall and his team have applied knowledge graphs which offer a flexible, schemaless, and scalable model for systematically mapping the toxicology and environmental health literature [3.5].

Research on systematic review methods for application to CRA has centred on the development of reporting standards and codes of practice for conducting and reviewing systematic reviews in the chemical exposure, toxicology and environmental health fields. The idea of creating toolkits for authors and editors to appraise the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews in the environmental health and toxicology fields (akin to those used in biomedical fields) was developed. For example, we have developed a detailed code of practice for systematic reviews in toxicology and environmental health research, called ‘COSTER’ [3.6]. In essence, these codes set quality standards to ensure that systematic reviews in the field of chemical risk are of high quality and comparable to Cochrane reviews undertaken in the biomedical sciences.

4. Details of the impact

The incorporation of systematic review methods in chemical risk assessment and the application of our SYRINA, COSTER and CREST tools (see https://crest\-tools.site/) has directly influenced risk assessment protocols and regulations within the EFSA and the European Commission. Whaley and Halsall have provided training to the WHO/ILO, which led to a change in their methodologies for assessing scientific evidence in the development of global evidence-based health targets and guidelines. Additionally, our codes of practice for conducting and reviewing systematic reviews in environmental health and toxicology have changed publishing practices on SRMs in leading health science journals. These four areas of impact are detailed below.

4.1. Changing chemical risk assessment methods at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

In 2016/17, EFSA sought to re-evaluate, through public consultation, its hazard assessment protocol for BPA, a high production volume chemical with some 1.25Mt produced in Europe each year. Amongst other uses, BPA is used in food contact materials with BPA-based epoxyphenolic resins used in protective linings for food and beverage cans as well as in polycarbonate food and liquid containers. EFSA reviewed scientific evidence from 2012 onwards to investigate whether the currently indicated tolerable daily human intake (TDI) of 4 µg/kg body weight/day was appropriate. During the consultation period, Whaley and Halsall provided written comments on the shortcomings of the initial assessment protocol, particularly with regards to the lack of SRMs. In 2017, we were invited as SRM experts to give a presentation at a BPA public meeting hosted by EFSA [5.1], attended by ~30 stakeholders from regulatory, food safety, NGO and industry sectors. An analysis using the COSTER/CREST framework [3.6] led to a significant and documented improvement in the EFSA's hazard assessment protocol [5.2]. The EFSA considered the inclusion of SRMs to provide a more transparent, less biased and overall more accurate risk assessment. This provided confidence in the current TDI of BPA but is considered temporary until a further evaluation is conducted using a protocol that now incorporates SRM.

4.2. Impacting international regulatory requirements for identification of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

Preventing public exposure to harmful EDCs is estimated to have a median annual cost saving of €163 billion¹ across the EU in terms of disease reduction and associated healthcare costs. On the basis of SYRINA (an international SRM-based framework for the identification of EDCs) Whaley and Halsall coordinated scientific comments on the draft EDC criteria from the EU Commission. This took the form of letters to the EU Commissioner for Food & Heath Safety and in proposed redrafts of regulatory provisions during public consultation periods in 2015. The team also received direct feedback on the proposals from the Commissioner, who confirmed changes to specific criteria in the draft regulation [5.3].

A quote from this letter states: “You suggest that best practices should be followed in evidence gathering, appraisal and integration. Under the proposed revised criteria, information must now be gathered and analysed using a weight-of-evidence approach and according to systematic review methods”.

The primary outcome was a change in how scientific evidence is assessed in evaluating whether a chemical should be classified as an endocrine disruptor under the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR; Regulation EU 528/2012), which concerns market distribution and use of biocidal products. The proposed changes were adopted by the European Parliament and the EU Commission in 2017. This resulted in changes to several BPR provisions to specifically reference SRMs [5.4]. This has substantial implications for the approximately 40 countries that follow these EU and international regulations, in particular manufacturers producing chemicals suspected as EDCs (e.g. BPA, phthalates, etc.).

¹ Andrology (2016) 4, 565–572

4.3. Influencing global health policy impact assessment methods at two UN agencies

In 2016, following a request from one of the World Health Organisation (WHO) systematic review teams, Whaley and Halsall provided training in SRMs based on SYRINA [3.3] and the COSTER [3.6] code of practice. The emphasis of the training was on the value of adopting a protocol (that describes the conduct of a systematic review prior to the systematic review being undertaken) and the uncertainty of the validity of current methods in light of COSTER [5.5]. This led to the WHO pre-publishing and externally peer-reviewing the systematic review protocols later that year. Additional training was provided in 2017 at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva on bias in risk assessment methods to 40 global scientists leading the various review teams tasked with estimating the work-related burden of disease and injury for different factors and/or exposures. This led to radical improvement in the proposed approaches and development of a new risk of bias tool for prevalence studies. Further training was provided in 2019 prior to the finalisation of the completed SRMs.

These training programmes resulted in changes to the assessment of scientific evidence in the development of global evidence-based health targets and guidelines by the international UN agency responsible for global health. Specific WHO/ILO projects (15 internationally-relevant areas of concern) exploring the use of SRMs to establish the global burden of disease from occupational environmental exposures are now provided in a Special Issue of Environment International, with an editorial overview provided by Whaley [5.6] who had a fundamental role in in designing the review methods and training the teams of authors involved (see [5.5]).

The Special Issue in turn led to improved understanding of the impact of environmental factors on global public health and, specifically, to occupationally-exposed populations (i.e. workers) in developing countries with particularly high chemical exposure burdens. Following UN guidance should therefore result in improved health in those countries with exposed populations, with the WHO and ILO, along with our research team, ensuring compliance through audits. The Systematic review has now been adopted as the methodology with which to assess progress of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, most notably for Goal 8 - to promote health and well-being in the working environment [5.7].

4.4. Changing publishing practices at multiple leading environmental health journals

Lancaster research into appraisal tools (e.g. COSTER [3.6] and systematic evidence mapping [3.4, 3.5]) and hosting of an international workshop [3.1] on strategy for mainstreaming SRMs in CRA (2014) led to a request from Environment International to edit the first-ever Special Issue on SRMs for Chemical Risk Assessment, coordinated by Whaley and Halsall.

The success of the special issue (relative citation ratio >2.5) led to Whaley being appointed as the world’s first specialist SRM editor for Environment International, a leading environmental health journal (2018). As a result of this appointment, Whaley has been able to implement the COSTER/CREST framework [3.6] into the journal's workflow and has been invited to speak on more than ten occasions (since 2018) about SRM expectations and new processes, including informal trainings and consultations with submitting authors. In this role he has delivered workshops (along with other editors) to disseminate codes of practice and standards for systematic reviews.

These positions and the integration of SRMs into journal practice have changed how researchers assess existing evidence of health risks from chemical exposures, ensuring objective analysis and better reporting. To date (2021), there have been some 200 manuscripts submitted (1500-2000 submitting authors) who have followed and benefitted from the COSTER [3.6] and CREST frameworks. Two scientific journals have provided consensus statements agreeing to the use of SRMs [5.8a and b]. ROSES (see [3.3]) has been endorsed by Nature Climate Change, Environmental Evidence and Environment International, providing, for the first time, an explicit minimum standard expected for a systematic review submitted to these journals [5.9 a, b and c].

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

Changing chemical risk assessment methods at the EFSA

5.1. EFSA Workshop on the BPA Hazard Assessment Protocol (2017) - agenda highlighting Lancaster University’s contribution ( https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/events/event/170914)

5.2. Documents from EFSA corroborating (point by point) the changes to its BPA Hazard Assessment Protocol (2017).

Impacting international regulatory requirements for identification of EDCs

5.3. Letters from the EU Commissioner for Food & Heath Safety (2014-present) corroborating our contributions in defining scientific criteria for the regulation of EDCs

5.4. Public list of Biocidal Products Regulation changed as a result of the EDC review (2017): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32017R2100&from=EN

Influencing global health policy impact assessment methods at two UN agencies

5.5. Letter from a Professor at Radboud University Medical Centre commenting on the value of the Lancaster University training, its contribution to the decision to publish protocols and the consequences for introducing SRMs (2016).

5.6. Link to Special Issue featuring the WHO/ILO projects as SRM ‘protocols’ (2020)

5.7. Evidence of the incorporation of SRMs in assessing progress of the UN WHO/ILO Sustainable Development Goals “ Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (specifically for Goal 8) [WHO A72/11 Rev. 1, 2019] with Whaley instructing on SRM in WHO expert meeting 1 (2017) and 2 (2019).

Changing publishing practices at multiple leading environmental health journals

5.8. Policy change statements from the journal editors of: a) Environment International ; b) Toxicology Sciences (2018) and Letter from Associate Editor, Toxicological Sciences.

5.9. Published guides for manuscript authors/reviewers and endorsement of ROSES for the journals: a) Nature Climate Change ; b) Environmental Evidence; c) Environment International (2018)

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4.1. Changing chemical risk assessment methods at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

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