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Annual Report 2014
15
NOWITECH
Norwegian Research Centre for Offshore Wind Technology
Establishment of a spinout company Seram Coatings AS
CIC activity in commercialization of selected NOWITECH results was in 2014 focused on
developing the patented process for thermally sprayed silicon carbide coating (ThermaSiC) into
a new business This was successful with the company Seram Coatings AS being established
December 2014 The process provides for an extremely hard, wear-resistant, low friction ceramic
coating that can be applied to
rotating machinery like main bearings in large direct drive wind
turbines Thiswill make them less susceptible to corrosion, more durable and withstand higher
temperatures;ultimately increasing lifetime and reducing cost for maintenance Read more at
http://geminino/en/2014/04/silicon-carbide-puzzle-solved/
Figure 5: The patented process for thermally sprayed silicon carbide coating (ThermaSiC) is now being developed as
a commercial product through the new spinout company Seram Coatings AS. Picture is copy from
http://www.ntnutto.no/thermasic/.The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) concept
The TRL concept was introduced in NOWITECH in 2012 with assistance from CIC, and the CIC is
continuously providing guidance on the application of the scale for NOWITECH The TRL concept eases
the communication of the research results within NOWITECH and externally, and enhances a system-
atic development of innovations The TRL scale applied in NOWITECH is shown in Figure 6 A generic
interpretation is that TRL 1-5 represents research and development stages, while TRL 6-9 typically is
industry driven towards deployment and commercial application
TRL 5:
Prototype/lab
validatin in
relevant
environment
TRL 4:
Technology
validation
in lab
TRL 3:
Experimental
proof of
concept
TRL 2:
Technology
concept
forumlated
TRL 1:
Basic
principles
observed
TRL 6:
Pilot system
validation in
relevant
environment
TRL 7:
Full scale
prototype in
operational
environment
TRL 8:
System
Compete
and qualified
TRL 9:
System
proven in
operation
environment
NOWITECH Working area (Precompetive Research)
Transfer from R&D
to Industry
Industry and commercial development
2014
10
8
sults
Figure 6: The Technology Readiness Level scale applied in NOWITECH to evaluate and communicate maturity of new ideas
and technology under development.