This healthcare tech could aid in the energy transition

All roads lead to Industry 4.0 and the increases in digitalisation and optimisation may have greater roles than just making supply chains more efficient. But what if we told you they could play a role in aiding companies' transitions to net-zero?

There is currently a huge gap in the market for real-time data processing and it could open new avenues to deal with sustainability issues that would typically go under the radar.

Read more: The Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Detecting Machine Failure

This gap could be filled by tomography. Typically used in the healthcare sector for imaging of the deep, internal structures of the body (such as in CT scans), some pioneers have looked to introduce this kind of mapping technology onto the factory floor, which could help in optimising systems or faults that would normally be difficult to detect.

This was the hypothesis of Finnish tech firm Rocsole, who told Industry Europe the process could be used to monitor and potentially fix "harsh and dirty" conditions within manufacturing processes. They took this idea and integrated it into their AI and deep learning platforms.

"Tomography [in healthcare] is a life-saving technology because it provides key data from our bodies and gives insight into when you need to take action in emergency situations, and can aid in detecting diseases and sickness, but typically operates in a clean or sterile environment, such as a hospital," Rocsole CEO Mika Tienhaara said.

"Our idea was to take this technology and apply it to the harshest conditions you can imagine."

One example is "electrical tomography" which will give insight into how much electrical admittance - essentially, how easily a current will flow - a medium has. In essence, this allows manufacturers to sort potential hitches in technology such as automation and amend errors that could lead to less energy waste or better-optimised operations.

These require constant monitoring, which is where AI-powered platforms like this come in handy. While they likely still require some supervision, it significantly reduces manpower.

He states the largest problem with industry today is that these companies "lack data" about what is going wrong, how they can fix it, and prevent it from happening in the future.

Rocsole claims its tech can increase yields, reduce deferred production and extend cleaning cycles in sectors such as oil & gas.

However, tomography as a concept has far wider uses than monitoring currents.

Tienhaara described the technology as "novel" and explained that the company, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, is currently scaling it up to work in various industries. Their ultimate goal is to provide data and insights into how operations can run smoother, which can prevent issues further down the line, which will ultimately aid in both the energy and digital transitions.

Read more: Satellite imaging and AI could merge to aid UK farmers

"While companies will still have to take measures to lower emissions and other forms of environmental damage, there may be blind spots. Manufacturers tend to run a lot of operations simultaneously, many of which are at risk of failure due to a lack of data or faulty sensors that give wrong signals which could lead to unwanted shutdowns," he added.

"The goal is to operate reliably and safely but also to understand how processes perform under very complex or stressful conditions.

"Every industry has issues and needs to clean up to reach net-zero, be it through optimisations leading to reduced fuel usage, lowering air pollution, or reducing waste. We have a lot of work to do."

Even more difficult-to-abate sectors, such as fossil fuels, are not immune to optimisation. One sector that reportedly lacks a lot of data regarding operations is the oil and gas industry, which means there is significant room for improvement regarding efficiency gains.

For example, Mika suggests that for oil companies working in the US Gulf Coast - where a lot of fossil fuels are processed - 75% of emergency shutdowns are unplanned, which can cause production numbers to drop, resulting in costly errors or even, as he stated, cause an increase in emissions owing to excess processes.

For these industries, Rocsole started by looking at critical processing equipment like multi-phase separators.

A lot of the time, these are analysed manually and may often fail due to faulty sensors, which can often hinder the ability to plan ahead. However, companies will still often want to operate at maximum capacity despite the risks of failure, which can be dangerous, Tienhaara added.

There are also a lot of byproducts in oil production that can cause pipe blockages, which must be dealt with to prevent failures.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is also playing a more important role than ever. Many investors are now looking at applying non-financial factors to their analysis, and it is leading them to want to keep better track of their systems and make them more efficient as it will often increase financial performance.

Outside of this, even a marginal efficiency boost can aid in the reduction of emissions. When applied to something like an oil field, even a minor efficiency increase could remove emissions equivalent to thousands of cars, which can help even more carbon-intensive industries do their bit.

Read more: New Microsoft data centre could heat Helsinki homes

The energy transition will not happen overnight, and Mika is a strong believer that these traditional energy sectors should try to make the best of what they have, and attempt to cut emissions, no matter how fractional.

However, ESG issues do not just apply to emissions. The semiconductor industry is a heavy user of water, which, as the climate crisis worsens, could become more scarce.

According to Chinese non-profit CWR, the chip industry can use as much as 20,000 tonnes of water per day - the equivalent of a city of over 50,000 people.

For this industry, tomography can help in several ways.

"Reusing water can be a challenge for the chip industry, as they often put some very aggressive chemicals in the water, which can cause things such as Silicon deposits that need to be tracked and removed to allow for reuse," Mika said.

The chip sector will only grow as consumer demand for electronics and electric vehicles does, and so optimising processes will become imperative for cutting costs.

"Chip production uses a lot of minerals and metals that can plug pipelines and ultimately cause toxic pollution, and so detecting and unclogging these is imperative.

"The companies also have massive carbon footprints, which offers another area for optimisation," he added.

Rocsole styles itself as a "disruptor," a challenger to the status quo, which has become something of a buzzword for the modern tech sector.  It maintains there are always gaps in industry to fill and always areas for improvement.

Even sectors as benign as food packaging could see improvements from tomography, from ensuring the water vegetables are washed in is clean and safe for use, to ensuring machines used for wrapping are working as intended to prevent shutdowns.

Read more: 3 engineering jobs that didn't exist a decade ago

We're now entering pure speculation territory, but there are other potential applications for this technology.

Tienhaara said: "There are so many angles to the challenges faced by industry. We want to provide insight to allow for quality control or we do manual inspections, but it is possible to automate and make most things more efficient and ensure it's better in the long run."

Tomography could also see use in the construction sector, from conducting geo-surveys on areas you are going to build on, to providing data on how the building will be supported or whether the land is safe to build on.

It could also be used to check for potential structural weaknesses both in terms of the foundation and once the building is complete.

Having a good way to manage operations also makes dealing with future challenges easier. Keeping track of issues and how to deal with them can save a lot of time and money.

GlobalData suggests that North America sees the highest rate of refinery maintenance, with 41% under either planned or unplanned maintenance.

Tackling the issues of unplanned shutdowns is the best way to ensure operations run smoothly. Loss of production can mean a potential loss of billions in revenue.

Tienhaara believes AI solutions are the best way to tackle these issues. Not only can AI run countless calculations at once, but it can also come up with answers to challenges incredibly quickly.

He claims they can gather data up to 1000 times faster with AI. This all works towards the ultimate goal of preventing unplanned shutdowns. And the tech will only get better as it becomes more advanced.

Read more: Smart Manufacturing Technology: Three Positive Effects On The Environment

In the future, ab large amount of planned shutdowns could be prevented as predictive software become more sophisticated.

"People believe Industry 4.0 will save us but think: what is it actually solving? What tools do you need? Do you have data gaps? This type of tech can help cement the future and help prevent failures and I'm glad to be a part of it," Tienhaara concluded.

Back to Homepage

Back to Technology & Innovation