Third Trimester Part I

With the thesis research in full swing, things in Akureyri quieted down considerably. As the days got shorter, most people made a point of taking a break during daylight hours to relax. Some biked around town, some jogged, and some anticipated the snow to come to start various snow sports. As the two Americans present in Akureyri, Ashlin and myself crafted a model American Thanksgiving dinner. Authentic dishes were made, such as pumpkin and apple pie, stuffing, homemade bread, green bean casserole, potatoes, gravy, and a 9 kg turkey, affectionately named Tom. All 14 of us said what we were thankful for, and enjoyed a tasty meal.

With Christmas just around the corner, things in Iceland turned towards the holidays. The Christmas shop, which is actually open year-round, reminded us of the various holiday traditions of our various countries.
I had a chance to escape to Brussels, Belgium for some research time with my thesis advisor. The time was productive, and the short 14 week thesis period meant that extensive research was crammed into a very short period of time. For some, it felt like the 'To Do List' kept getting longer. While in Brussels, I made some time to explore around the city and take in the sights.

Even with the deadline months away, we were all feeling the crunch to stick with our timelines and make sure the work gets done. Since the projects were fairly independent, it was up to each of us to motivate ourselves to stay focused. Help from enthusiastic advisors was always a welcome motivator.

September

With the second trimester almost finished, two thoughts were on our minds. Where (and on what) were we going to do our thesis, and where were we going during study break. With no study tour around Iceland, we had to make our own fun.

Groups of various sizes took trips deep into the interior of Iceland to the Kverkfjoll Ice caves at the base of the Vatnajokull glacier. This required strong vehicles, a few stream crossings, and staying at remote huts in the interior. This area in Iceland was definitely one of the most remote in the country.
We were rewarded with unspoiled views of that overused 'Fire and Ice' cliche that you hear about. A quick stop at Askja and Viti (above) allowed us a quick dip in the thermally heated crater. While it looks warm, it certainly was not, and with nothing to block it, the wind made it much worse.
The final sight of the trip was Vatnajokull glacier itself. The huge icefield spills off the mountain, which creates the characteristic ripples in the ice.

A volcanic feature deep within the glacier vents hot gases to the surface, creating the deep blue Kverkfjoll ice caves. This was definitely the highlight of the trip, as the sight was something that cannot be easily imagined or even described.

Back in Akureyri, the school was engaged in a tough battle during the inter class games, called Sprellmot. A fierce battle ensued with RES facing tough competition in all matches.
After a well choreographed and executed song competition, RES ended up with a honorable mention, good for a second place finish. Lets hope for a first place next year!

August

RES students were now starting to get serious into finalizing plans for the third trimester thesis projects. This was a great opportunity for students to pursue part of renewable energy that they had specific skills or interests. The project had to be approved by a thesis committee, but besides that is fairly open. It was inspiring to me to see students pursuing areas they were passionate and excited about making a contribution to.

Putting together the proposal on top of the already difficult coursework was tough, but students still managed to get out and enjoy Iceland. Some of the activities included visits to more of the local festivals. Some of the more notable included the herring festival in Siglufjörður. This included great food and even a demonstration of some of the old traditions.




There was a large RES showing at the Fiskidagsins mikla (mighty fish days) in Dalvik just north of Akureyri. This is one of the largest festivals in all of Iceland and draws a huge crowd. Locals invited guests into their homes for a variety of fish soup. There was also a tremendous amount of food and activities the whole weekend.
RES also made the trip to the Reykjavik marathon. A number of students ran the half and two ran the full marathon. All in all a great trip to the city and a great way to get in shape.

July 2009

With second semester classes in full tilt, the difficulty level was definitely increased over the first semester. The Energy Systems track was tough, but also informative. We touched on energy conversion, including an in-depth look at fuel cells as well as heat pumps, stirling engines, biomass combustion, and energy storage solutions. It's promising to hear that new and better technologies are constantly evolving. The potential for these is great, such as batteries with non-toxic electrolyte solutions that you can actually drink, or portable fuel cells for soldier or personal computing use.

We learned another interesting application for integrated energy optimization, which tried to find the best use of heat by using evolutionary algorithms and other concepts inspired by the concept of evolution. The ideas of reproduction, mutation, recombination, and natural selection first proposed during Charles Darwin's time were incorporated into programs for finding the ideal use of heat transfer in systems.
Even though the classes were becoming more demanding, we still found time to get out of Akureyri and see some awe inspiring sites. Since there was little darkness, we could travel around at any time we wanted. We visited a waterfall called Dettifoss, which is the most powerful waterfall in Europe, meaning that the flowrate of water and height of the fall together are higher than any other in Europe.
Unlike many other falls, Dettifoss is very undeveloped and not at all touristy. The fall is located in a national park, and the winter snows were so heavy that the dirt access road had only opened a few weeks before.
We were able to walk right up to edge of the falls and look over the edge of the cliff. You can see a few people in the above picture for perspective.

The park encases the river Jökulsá á Fjöllum, which also leads into other smaller but still beautiful falls. The silty glacial river water is constantly fed by runoff from the Vatnajökull Glacier.

Back in Akureyri, the longer days mean that summer festivals were numerous, including this Abba themed concert held on the newly grass-covered square in downtown. Pink costumes and bell bottoms were nicely complemented with audience singing along to the cover of the Swedish phenomenon.

June

Re-energized after study tour, we hit our classes of the second trimester at full speed. Finally, each specialization was split into separate courses, which added a new dynamic to class. There was a bit more individual attention, especially with the bio-fuels and fuel cell specialization.
By this time, the Icelandic summer was really starting to get going. The long days made for seemingly every town in Iceland (including Akureyri) having their own festivals.

Constant daylight also seemed to change everyone's sleep habits, including the wildlife around Skjaldarvik. Here an owl completes one of many laps around our house at about 11:30pm.

One of the most amazing events during this time was the summer solstice. An important event around Iceland, a few of us took short trip north towards Dalvik to watch the sun dip to the ocean and only to begin to rise again. It also made for the most fantastic sunrises I have ever seen at about 1:20am.
Also, a number of students were able to go for a truly Icelandic experience: horseback riding.

Most of us were novice riders, but we got to trail ride with the horses, cross a stream and even run them through a few of their famous 4 different gaits. Photo credit: Kuba




This was a great time to be on an island in the middle of the north Atlantic.

Study Tour

Picture taken around Midnight in the mountains above Berunes, East Iceland

Now that the first trimester was finally over, it was time to kick back and relax for a few days. During our classes, we learned about cutting edge technologies, such as solar PV cells that can see 40% or greater efficiency, advanced hydrogen storage and fuel cell technologies, advanced Kalina cycle geothermal turbines, and 120 meter tall wind turbines. The purpose of the study tour is to ground what we learned in reality, so we can see what is the current state of the technologies that we learned about. While the study tour is not supposed to be as rigorous as regular classes, there is still a lot that can be learned from our visits. However, we did find the time to enjoy ourselves on our break between trimesters.
The trip was split into 5 days, and we drove around the Ring road. Our first stop was an aluminum smelter along Reydarfjordur (above), which was operated by Alcoa. Aluminum production is a very energy intensive process, so the smelter was placed in Iceland in part due to its abundant (and sustainable) natural resources.


The facility, pictured above, requires a constant source of electricity greater than 600 MW, enough power for more than half a million people! The white alumina powder is shipped in from South America, processed, and the finished Aluminum ingots are shipped to their final destinations throughout the world.

In order to power the smelter, a hydropower facility was constructed called Kárahnjúkar. The dam is controversial among some Icelanders since the dam's reservoir flooded much of a wilderness area that some in the country cherish as one of the largest unspoiled wilderness in Europe. The reindeer, above, are some of the animals that are affected by the project.
The rationale for building the smelter and associated power in plant in Iceland takes more of a global perspective. Alternate sites for the smelter would likely be in less developed countries, and the power would be generated by fossil fuels, such as cheap coal in China. By siting the project in Iceland, overall global emissions from the aluminum production would be far less than if the same product were made in other countries.

While driving across the south coast of Iceland, the class stopped at many natural wonders, such as Vatnajokull, Europe's largest glacier, Skaftafell National Park, and a few other waterfalls from glacier runoff.

Vatnajokull, in the background, deposits icebergs into the Glacial LagoonOur accommodations for a night in cabins at þakgil, between Vik and Myrdalsjokull Glacier. Most agreed that this was the coolest place to stay in Iceland.

Skogarfoss Waterfall

Outside of Reykjavik, the group visited a few geothermal facilities, such as the Hellisheidi combined cycle power plant, the Svartsengi plant, as well as two geothermal well sites. These facilities, along with a few other plants in the area, supply the capital region with almost all of its electricity, hot water, and district heating needs.

Hellisheidi geothermal power plant, outside of Reykjavik

In addition to power and hot water, the Svartsengi plant also has its own hot water well just for the Blue Lagoon spa and thermal bath, one of Iceland's most popular attractions.

One added bonus to the trip was a surprise visit to the Presidential compound, called Bessastaðir. The president, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, said a few words about the work that we were doing and allowed a few questions from our group. Afterward, we were allowed to tour the compound, which sits on ancient ruins dating back hundreds of years.

What was mentioned here were some of the things that we did during the week long study tour. Many other site visits, such as the Icelandic Innovation Center, the Sorpa landfill biogas recovery, the hydrogen fueling station, and others were not described here, but were certainly educational as well! By the end of the week, we had a few days to ourselves to rest and enjoy the city of Reykjavik and its infamous nightlife. Some took side trips to the Golden Circle, others went to museums, churches, or markets throughout the city. After the brief break, it was then time to head back to Akureyri for the start of classes once again.

The Rest of May...

So yes, we sort of gave up on the blog for a little while. But, never fear, as we intend to finish it off now! We'll start with the rest of May:

The rest of our class time was spent wrapping up our final courses of the first trimester, namely solar power and wind & wave power. These are tremendous resources, and it was especially interesting to consider the challenges and opportunities inherent in their utilization.

With the end of those courses, we then had one week to prepare for our final exams for the first trimester. People seemed to spend their time doing one of the following: studying hard, procrastinating studying hard, or goofing off in general. Some of the studying became pretty intense when going over a few months worth of material, and it was nice to work in groups and enjoy some of the amazing summer weather during the "short" breaks.


I spent the first few days studying like a mad man and the rest of the week with some family visiting from Colorado. Highlights of that time included a trip to the island of Grimsey to cross the arctic circle and do some puffin spotting



as well as a bit of whale watching in Husavik.

The inevitable finally arrived, and we had a solid week of finals. Up to three exams per day for a 4 days straight definitely prepared us for hard earned study tour around Iceland.