Ongen is a multi-disciplinary research and development group working with industry and government agencies on novel use, and reuse, of regional resources to create new opportunities for sustainable economic development.

Our work includes:

• mitigation of industrial off-gas CO₂
• bioenergy
• bioprospecting microalgae for commercially valuable bioproducts
• natural antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer, and antiviral agents
• capture and repurposing on-site industrial waste energy
• productivity and environmental impacts from introducing battery electric vehicles and automation into mining
• systems to protect drinking water for remote communities and households

The team's work is internationally recognized, including for several awards, and more details of our active projects and members of the current team can be found below.

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Bioprospecting for unique species of microalgae

Stress from extreme and fluctuating environmental conditions that microalgae in northern Canada endure makes them of interest in terms of potential beneficial protective biochemical compounds.

We have a unique sampling program that is collecting microalgae from a wide-range of water bodies that experience a variety of stresses. For example, microalgae growing in abandoned mine tailing ponds that are exposed to nutrient deficiency, high metal levels and/or low pH values.

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Biofuels - biodiesel from microalgae

In the push towards creating economies that encourage investment and growth in renewable energy, biodiesel from certain microalgae, microscopic green plants found "floating" in water,  is globally a major focus as a route to mass production of  biofuels.

Microalgae can capture solar energy 10 to 50 times more efficiently than terrestrial plants used to produce oils (as lipids). As a consequence microalgae produce significantly more feedstock per hectare, in the form of lipids, that can be subsequently converted into biodiesel.

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Natural antibacterial compounds

A focus of our work is microalgal production of compounds that exhibit high activity against bacteria.

There is a continuous need to discover new antibacterial agents and novel mechanisms of action due to development of resistance to antibiotics in current clinical use.

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Industrial CO₂ mitigation

Regions such as Northern Ontario can provide solutions to mass production of microalgae, even during extended periods of cold winter weather:

- large tracts of marginal or non-productive land to host microalgae production facilities, thereby avoiding the pitfalls associated with uptake of agriculture, forested or virgin land;

- large supplies of waste heat to allow all year round production;

- large volumes of CO₂ to enhance microalgae production rates.

We have as a consequence established a unique pilot facility that is an array of tanks for growing microalgae for biodiesel.

They are heated and fed with real industrial off-gas and can operate year-round, despite periods of extremely cold conditions.

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Natural anticancer agents

An exciting development of our work is bioprospectd microalgal production of compounds that exhibit significant anticancer activity in human cell lines.

Our microalgal extracts with antibacterial activity have been tested on both non-cancer and cancer human cell lines.

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Energy savings and greenhouse gas reduction

We are interested in enhanced energy security and reduced fossil fuel dependence for industry through developing new on-site concepts to recover and reuse otherwise waste energy.

A major target is to tap into low-grade heat in various process water and gas streams on industrial sites.

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One goal is to use heat pumps to upgrade this heat and make it suitable for replacing existing heaters (e.g., natural gas or electrcity) used to provide process stream pre-heating.

A similar approach can be also used to provide space heating and/or cooling in on-site office, workshop and laboratory buildings.

This can not only reduce fuel bills and therefore annual operating costs, but also net greenhouse gas emissions.

We work with company personnel to go over a site and identify and characterize existing low-grade heat opportunities, as well as heating and/or cooling loads for on-site processes and infrastructure.

We also assess available heat pumps and look to optimize location(s) (e.g., for connecting into the process water or gas streams, pipe runs and location of the pumps) to maximize benefits from partially or totally replacing existing heating and/or cooling systems.

The primary metric for evaluating heat pump effectiveness is the coefficient of performance (COP) which indicates how many units of thermal energy the heat pump can deliver for a given a single unit of input (electrical) energy. For example, for space heating applications, the temperature of the sink is set by the preferences of the inhabitants (typically around 20C) and the capacity of the heat distribution system.

 

 

Protecting drinking water supplies

Every year advisories are issued to not extract water from lakes and rivers for drinking. This is particuarly so for remote communities, such as first nations, mine camps and individual households, not connected to municipal water supplies. One possible cause is Cylindrospermopsin (CYN), one of the common cyanobacterial toxins, that targets protein and glutathione synthesis in hepatocytes, and may cause fever, diarrhea, hepatomegaly and kidney damage.

To tackle this problem, we are looking at a combination of germicidal UV and photocatalytic activity to simultaneuosly kill bacteria and destroy toxins.

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In our work, novel flowthrough photocatalytic contactors with our own designed TiO₂ coated plates are being used that can be easily plumbed into water supply lines.

The photocatalyst area is configured to capture more UV photons, and this increased capture results in more oxidizing hydroxyl radicals generated for enhanced destruction of toxins.

The unique design of our contactors has been found to be far more effective at breaking down contaminants than other photocatalytic contactors.

The goal is a compact, economic and low maintenance design that can be used to protect public health in isolated and remote communities.

 

Health benefical natural compounds

In addition to optimizing biodiesel production from bioprospected microalgae, to maximize opportunity and resource utilization we are also looking at co-production of other high value natural compounds.

Algae, the only plants known to produce all eight amino acids essential to human health, can also generate natural health benefical compounds (nutraceuticals) such as omega3 fatty acids and antioxidants, as well as food supplements such as proteins.

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We are looking at recovery of these health benefical compounds (nutraceuticals) from microalgae that exist in stressed ecosystems.

Environmental stresses that these microalgae successfully endure makes them of interest as to protect themselves they produce compounds, such as antioxidants, that can be used by us.

We are exploring both their production and also their application as natural replacements for synthetic compounds, such as for skin protection against the sun's harmful UV rays.

A goal is regional commercial production of high value nutraceutical products to strengthen economic and societal returns.

 

Automated mining - impact on sustainability

The growing demand for increased production has resulted in the desire to develop deeper underground to extract more resources.

However, when operating at great depths, mining becomes less economic as ventilation costs drastically increase. As a result, there is a move to utilize electric-power machinery instead of traditional diesel machines in order to reduce emissions, as well as automated equipment to improve productivity and safety.

We are investigating the impact of automated and electric mining equipment on mine operations, and in particular improvements in sustainability and the additional benefits these will provide the industry.

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The introduction of electric-powered machinery in the mining industry can present many benefits such as:

- lower operating costs from fueling with electricity rather than diesel
- reduced greenhouse gas emissions
- better workplace conditions from improved air quality and noise levels

We have developed life-cycle assessment (LCA) models as tools to analyze the impact of introducing automated mining equipment into underground mine sites.



The models assess the impacts of resulting process changes along with regional and geographical variables on short and long-term sustainability, to be quantified.

This work provides the industry with a third project assessment that complements improvements in productivity and safety that result from introducing electric vehicles and automation - improved environmental impacts.

 

Capturing CO₂ from small volume sources

Collaborative research and development is exploring environmental and economic, benefits from capturing and repurposing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from relatively small volume sources.

An example is the exhaust CO₂ emitted by stand-alone electricity generators, such as those that burn methane in landfill biogas to produce electricity. The goal is to capture the CO₂ to promote growth of regional microalgae that can produce a revenue stream of high-value health beneficial natural compounds, such as omega3's and antioxidants.

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In Canada, there are over 280 remote communities that are off the grid, the majority of which are First Nations. They use stand-alone diesel-powered electricity generators to supply their basic needs, and whilst there are plans to move towards reducing this dependence through providing renewable energy alternatives, this will take time.

In addition, there are a growing number of generators that burn biogas from landfill sites or wastewater treatment plants.

All these electricity generators emit CO₂ into the atmosphere which could be captured by microalgae to provide a local income source.

 

Benchmarking sustainability performance

We have developed the enviroIndex™, a sustainability performance index that measures and quantifies benchmarks using a easy to understand numerical scale.

The outcomes can be used to help enhance long-term sustainability and the bottom line. Sectors that we currently work in, include: Events
Health
Communities
Manufacturing
Travel & Tourism
Administration Services
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The aim of the enviroIndex™ is to provide clear assurance to all stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, employees and regulators, that a business or organization is running on sound principles, and is not unnecessarily and uncompetitively wasting resources and increasing associated costs.

We have designed the enviroIndex™ to use data that can be collected in-house without specialist knowledge and excessive additional costs.

The end result is a Sustainability Ratings Report that gives powerful "snapshot" of achievement and standing against key operational performance indicators, as well as benchmarks that can track long-term performance and outcomes, such as for annual reports.