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Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES) applications have slowly gained acceptance on the Swedish energy market. Two UTES concepts are successfully implemented; the ATES (aquifer storage) and the BTES (borehole storage) systems. Also snow storage in pits or caverns has reached a commercial status. The number of ATES has steadily grown to 40 large-scale plants at the end of 2002. The systems are usually designed for cold storage in district cooling application, but industrial process cooling is also common. The economical potential in terms of straight payback time is usually very favourable. However, there is still a certain risk for operational problems that might jeopardize the calculated profit. Well clogging problems and system control remain as R&D issues to be solved. From a legislation point of view any ATES application needs a permit. The process of obtaining a permit has become complex and time-consuming since a new act on environmental assessment was put into effect in 1999.BTES systems are normally used in smaller applications. At the end of 2002 there were more than 200 installations comprising more than 10 boreholes. The majority of these are applied for space cooling of commercial or institutional buildings and for process cooling within the telecommunication sector. From a technical point of view, BTES are much simpler to construct and operate than ATES. Furthermore, they can be applied in almost any kind of geology. Another advantage compared to ATES is that the permitting procedure is much simpler. The major market obstacle is that the profitability is not always acceptable if calculated as a straight payback time. To increase the market potential, there is a need for further R&D on improvement of borehole heat exchangers and of more effective drilling methods.Snow storage is still a new technology though the Sundsvall snow storage plant has been operated successfully for several years. This good example has inspired several pre-studies of new snow storage plants. These have shown that snow storage is feasible in various sizes and in different applications. ; Godkänd; 2003; 20070210 (ysko)

Rational design and informed development of nontoxic antifouling coatings requires a thorough understanding of the interactions between surfaces and fouling species. With more complex antifouling materials, such as composites or zwitterionic polymers, there follows also a need for better characterization of the materials as such. To further the understanding of the antifouling properties of charge-balanced polymers, we explore the properties of layered polyelectrolytes and their interactions with charged surfaces. These polymers were prepared via self-initiated photografting and photopolymerization (SIPGP); on top of a uniform bottom layer of anionic poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA), a cationic poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) thickness gradient was formed. Infrared microscopy and imaging spectroscopic ellipsometry were used to characterize chemical composition and swelling of the combined layer. Direct force measurements by colloidal probe atomic force microscopy were performed to investigate the forces between the polymer gradients and charged probes. The swelling of PMAA and PDMAEMA are very different, with steric and electrostatic forces varying in a nontrivial manner along the gradient. The gradients can be tuned to form a protein-resistant charge-neutral region, and we demonstrate that this region, where both electrostatic and steric forces are small, is highly compressed and the origin of the protein resistance of this region is most likely an effect of strong hydration of charged residues at the surface, rather than swelling or bulk hydration of the polymer. In the highly swollen regions far from charge-neutrality, steric forces dominate the interactions between the probe and the polymer. In these regions, the SIPGP polymer has qualitative similarities with brushes, but we were unable to quantitatively describe the polymer as a brush, supporting previous data suggesting that these polymers are cross-linked. ; Funding agencies: European Commissions Sixth Framework Program Integrated Project AMBIO (Advanced Nanostructured Surfaces for the Control of Biofouling) [NMP-CT-2005-011827]; European Communitys Seventh Framework Program [237997]; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area

We report on the preparation and characterization of thin polyampholytic hydrogel gradient films permitting pH-controlled protein resistance via the regulation of surface charges. The hydrogel gradients are composed of cationic poly(2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride) (PAEMA), and anionic poly(2-carboxyethyl acrylate) (PCEA) layers, which are fabricated by self-initiated photografting and photopolymerization (SIPGP). Using a two-step UV exposure procedure, a polymer thickness gradient of one component is formed on top of a uniform layer of the oppositely charged polymer. The swelling of the gradient films in water and buffers at different pH were characterized by imaging spectroscopic ellipsometry. The surface charge distribution and steric interactions with the hydrogel gradients were recorded by direct force measurement with colloidal-probe atomic force microscopy. We demonstrate that formation of a charged polymer thickness gradient on top of a uniform layer of opposite charge can result in a region of charge-neutrality. This charge-neutral region is highly resistant to non-specific adsorption of proteins, and its location along the gradient can be controlled via the pH of the surrounding buffer. The pH-controlled protein adsorption and desorption was monitored in real-time by imaging surface plasmon resonance, while the corresponding redistribution of surface charge was confirmed by direct force measurements. ; Funding Agencies|European Commission [NMP-CT-2005-011827]; European Community [237997]; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University [2009-00971]