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The recovery and utilisation of industrial excess heat has been identified as an important contribution for energy efficiency by reducing primary energy demand. Previous works, based on top-down studies for a few sectors, or regional case studies estimated the overall availability of industrial excess heat. A more detailed analysis is required to allow the estimation of potentials for specific heat recovery technologies, particularly regarding excess heat temperature profiles. This work combines process integration methods and regression analysis to obtain cogeneration targets, detailed excess heat temperature profiles and estimations of electricity generation potentials from low and medium temperature excess heat. The work is based on the use of excess heat temperature (XHT) signatures for individual sites and regression analysis using publicly available data, obtaining estimations of the technical potential for electricity generation from low and medium temperature excess heat (60-140 degrees C) for the whole Swedish kraft pulp and paper industry. The results show a technical potential to increase the electricity production at kraft mills in Sweden by 10 to 13%, depending on the level of process integration considered, and a lower availability of excess heat than previously estimated in studies for the sector. The approach used could be adapted and applied in other sectors and regions, increasing the level of detail at which industrial excess heat estimations are obtained when compared to previous studies.

The recovery and utilisation of industrial excess heat has been identified as an important contribution for energy efficiency by reducing primary energy demand. Previous works, based on top-down studies for a few sectors, or regional case studies estimated the overall availability of industrial excess heat. A more detailed analysis is required to allow the estimation of potentials for specific heat recovery technologies, particularly regarding excess heat temperature profiles. This work combines process integration methods and regression analysis to obtain cogeneration targets, detailed excess heat temperature profiles and estimations of electricity generation potentials from low and medium temperature excess heat. The work is based on the use of excess heat temperature (XHT) signatures for individual sites and regression analysis using publicly available data, obtaining estimations of the technical potential for electricity generation from low and medium temperature excess heat (60-140 degrees C) for the whole Swedish kraft pulp and paper industry. The results show a technical potential to increase the electricity production at kraft mills in Sweden by 10 to 13%, depending on the level of process integration considered, and a lower availability of excess heat than previously estimated in studies for the sector. The approach used could be adapted and applied in other sectors and regions, increasing the level of detail at which industrial excess heat estimations are obtained when compared to previous studies.

The recovery and utilisation of industrial excess heat has been identified as an important contribution for energy efficiency by reducing primary energy demand. Previous works, based on top-down studies for a few sectors, or regional case studies estimated the overall availability of industrial excess heat. A more detailed analysis is required to allow the estimation of potentials for specific heat recovery technologies, particularly regarding excess heat temperature profiles. This work combines process integration methods and regression analysis to obtain cogeneration targets, detailed excess heat temperature profiles and estimations of electricity generation potentials from low and medium temperature excess heat. The work is based on the use of excess heat temperature (XHT) signatures for individual sites and regression analysis using publicly available data, obtaining estimations of the technical potential for electricity generation from low and medium temperature excess heat (60-140 degrees C) for the whole Swedish kraft pulp and paper industry. The results show a technical potential to increase the electricity production at kraft mills in Sweden by 10 to 13%, depending on the level of process integration considered, and a lower availability of excess heat than previously estimated in studies for the sector. The approach used could be adapted and applied in other sectors and regions, increasing the level of detail at which industrial excess heat estimations are obtained when compared to previous studies.

The recovery and utilisation of industrial excess heat has been identified as an important contribution for energy efficiency by reducing primary energy demand. Previous works, based on top-down studies for a few sectors, or regional case studies estimated the overall availability of industrial excess heat. A more detailed analysis is required to allow the estimation of potentials for specific heat recovery technologies, particularly regarding excess heat temperature profiles. This work combines process integration methods and regression analysis to obtain cogeneration targets, detailed excess heat temperature profiles and estimations of electricity generation potentials from low and medium temperature excess heat. The work is based on the use of excess heat temperature (XHT) signatures for individual sites and regression analysis using publicly available data, obtaining estimations of the technical potential for electricity generation from low and medium temperature excess heat (60-140 degrees C) for the whole Swedish kraft pulp and paper industry. The results show a technical potential to increase the electricity production at kraft mills in Sweden by 10 to 13%, depending on the level of process integration considered, and a lower availability of excess heat than previously estimated in studies for the sector. The approach used could be adapted and applied in other sectors and regions, increasing the level of detail at which industrial excess heat estimations are obtained when compared to previous studies.

The recovery and utilisation of industrial excess heat has been identified as an important contribution for energy efficiency by reducing primary energy demand. Previous works, based on top-down studies for a few sectors, or regional case studies estimated the overall availability of industrial excess heat. A more detailed analysis is required to allow the estimation of potentials for specific heat recovery technologies, particularly regarding excess heat temperature profiles. This work combines process integration methods and regression analysis to obtain cogeneration targets, detailed excess heat temperature profiles and estimations of electricity generation potentials from low and medium temperature excess heat. The work is based on the use of excess heat temperature (XHT) signatures for individual sites and regression analysis using publicly available data, obtaining estimations of the technical potential for electricity generation from low and medium temperature excess heat (60-140 degrees C) for the whole Swedish kraft pulp and paper industry. The results show a technical potential to increase the electricity production at kraft mills in Sweden by 10 to 13%, depending on the level of process integration considered, and a lower availability of excess heat than previously estimated in studies for the sector. The approach used could be adapted and applied in other sectors and regions, increasing the level of detail at which industrial excess heat estimations are obtained when compared to previous studies.

Dynamically tunable reflective structural colors are attractive for reflective displays (electronic paper). However, it is challenging to tune a thin layer of structural color across the full red-green-blue (RGB) basis set of colors at video rates and with long-term stability. In this work, this is achieved through a hybrid cavity built from metal-insulator-metal (MIM) "nanocaves" and an electrochromic polymer (PProDOTMe(2)). The reflective colors are modulated by electrochemically doping/dedoping the polymer. Compared with traditional subpixel-based systems, this hybrid structure provides high reflectivity (>40%) due to its "monopixel" nature and switches at video rates. The polymer bistability helps deliver ultralow power consumption (& AP;2.5 mW cm(-2)) for video display applications and negligible consumption (& AP;3 & mu;W cm(-2)) for static images, compatible with fully photovoltaic powering. In addition, the color uniformity of the hybrid material is excellent (over cm(-2)) and the scalable fabrication enables large-area production., Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council [201806768]; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]; UK EPSRC [EP/L027151/1, EP/N016920/1]; MC2 at the Chalmers University of Technology; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) [EM16-0002] Funding Source: Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF)

This paper investigates how business and innovation strategies explain companies responses to transformational pressures in a mature industry. The analytical framework combines two perspectives on business and innovation strategies: competitive position and resource position. Based on an embedded case study of eight companies in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, the paper contributes to previous innovation literature by connecting companies innovation responses to their business and innovation strategies. Most notably, it reveals a new type of ambidextrous innovation strategy, i.e. "market-driven exploitation", and shows that the responses by incumbent companies in the pulp and paper industry are the result of deliberate and justifiable strategic choices rather than path dependency and inertia. The study also confirms the value of integrating the two perspectives on strategy. On the one hand, the explanations provided by each perspective overlap with the other, so that they together provide a more nuanced understanding of the companies choices and activities. On the other hand, the perspectives complement each other, so that one perspective explains observations that cannot be explained by the other. The results of the paper inform both managers and policy makers about the trade-offs involved in changing a strategic direction while retaining core capabilities., Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [2016003227]

This paper investigates how business and innovation strategies explain companies responses to transformational pressures in a mature industry. The analytical framework combines two perspectives on business and innovation strategies: competitive position and resource position. Based on an embedded case study of eight companies in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, the paper contributes to previous innovation literature by connecting companies innovation responses to their business and innovation strategies. Most notably, it reveals a new type of ambidextrous innovation strategy, i.e. "market-driven exploitation", and shows that the responses by incumbent companies in the pulp and paper industry are the result of deliberate and justifiable strategic choices rather than path dependency and inertia. The study also confirms the value of integrating the two perspectives on strategy. On the one hand, the explanations provided by each perspective overlap with the other, so that they together provide a more nuanced understanding of the companies choices and activities. On the other hand, the perspectives complement each other, so that one perspective explains observations that cannot be explained by the other. The results of the paper inform both managers and policy makers about the trade-offs involved in changing a strategic direction while retaining core capabilities., Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [2016003227]

This paper investigates how business and innovation strategies explain companies responses to transformational pressures in a mature industry. The analytical framework combines two perspectives on business and innovation strategies: competitive position and resource position. Based on an embedded case study of eight companies in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, the paper contributes to previous innovation literature by connecting companies innovation responses to their business and innovation strategies. Most notably, it reveals a new type of ambidextrous innovation strategy, i.e. "market-driven exploitation", and shows that the responses by incumbent companies in the pulp and paper industry are the result of deliberate and justifiable strategic choices rather than path dependency and inertia. The study also confirms the value of integrating the two perspectives on strategy. On the one hand, the explanations provided by each perspective overlap with the other, so that they together provide a more nuanced understanding of the companies choices and activities. On the other hand, the perspectives complement each other, so that one perspective explains observations that cannot be explained by the other. The results of the paper inform both managers and policy makers about the trade-offs involved in changing a strategic direction while retaining core capabilities., Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [2016003227]

This paper investigates how business and innovation strategies explain companies responses to transformational pressures in a mature industry. The analytical framework combines two perspectives on business and innovation strategies: competitive position and resource position. Based on an embedded case study of eight companies in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, the paper contributes to previous innovation literature by connecting companies innovation responses to their business and innovation strategies. Most notably, it reveals a new type of ambidextrous innovation strategy, i.e. "market-driven exploitation", and shows that the responses by incumbent companies in the pulp and paper industry are the result of deliberate and justifiable strategic choices rather than path dependency and inertia. The study also confirms the value of integrating the two perspectives on strategy. On the one hand, the explanations provided by each perspective overlap with the other, so that they together provide a more nuanced understanding of the companies choices and activities. On the other hand, the perspectives complement each other, so that one perspective explains observations that cannot be explained by the other. The results of the paper inform both managers and policy makers about the trade-offs involved in changing a strategic direction while retaining core capabilities., Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [2016003227]

This paper investigates how business and innovation strategies explain companies responses to transformational pressures in a mature industry. The analytical framework combines two perspectives on business and innovation strategies: competitive position and resource position. Based on an embedded case study of eight companies in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, the paper contributes to previous innovation literature by connecting companies innovation responses to their business and innovation strategies. Most notably, it reveals a new type of ambidextrous innovation strategy, i.e. "market-driven exploitation", and shows that the responses by incumbent companies in the pulp and paper industry are the result of deliberate and justifiable strategic choices rather than path dependency and inertia. The study also confirms the value of integrating the two perspectives on strategy. On the one hand, the explanations provided by each perspective overlap with the other, so that they together provide a more nuanced understanding of the companies choices and activities. On the other hand, the perspectives complement each other, so that one perspective explains observations that cannot be explained by the other. The results of the paper inform both managers and policy makers about the trade-offs involved in changing a strategic direction while retaining core capabilities., Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [2016003227]

An approach for estimating national targets for industrial excess heat recovery based on detailed analysis of data from case studies followed by regression analysis is proposed and applied to the Kraft pulping industry in Sweden. According to the resulting estimates, there is a large potential for increasing the excess heat utilization from the Swedish pulp and paper mills. The suggested methodology provides a more detailed picture of industrial excess heat availability in the Swedish pulp and paper industry and could be applied to other sectors and regions.

This paper investigates to what extent and how an exploitation-oriented innovation logic can enable innovations characterised by a high degree of newness. The paper is based on an embedded case study of 11 innovation initiatives by the Swedish pulp and paper companies and uses a multi-dimensional framework that takes into account both product and process innovation dimensions as well as multiple stages in the value chain. The results show that the studied initiatives are characterised by new to the companies or new to the industry products and processes in the primary or final steps in the value chain (or both). It is also shown that such high degrees of novelty can be the result of an exploitation innovation logic, where novelty is enabled and facilitated by unchanged or slightly modified products and processes in other parts of the value chain. It can therefore be concluded that exploitation strategies can contribute to more than incremental innovation outcomes and, consequently, that mature industries hold considerably higher innovation potential than the previous literature assumes.

Waste management in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has been a major research topic owing to the AEC industry being one of the top contributors of waste generation. However, research has primarily focused on new build and has neglected refurbishment projects which become relevant due to an aging building stock in Sweden and Europe. Various actors are involved in refurbishment projects which makes it important to study each actor as well as tensions between them. By using a service ecosystem perspective and relying on 38 interviews, this paper aims to investigate tensions and barriers between actors within the service ecosystem of CDW for refurbishment projects in Sweden. Based on the results, spatial barriers are the most mentioned barrier which also create the highest number of tensions between project and contractor mother firm, subcontractors, waste recycling firms and society/citizens. The majority of the tensions are found between projects and the contractor mother firms, followed by tensions between projects and clients and projects and subcontractors. Unlike previous studies investigating only one of the actors waste management practices, this paper contributes by investigating the interactions between seven different actors which is important for improving waste management practices in refurbishment projects., Funding Agencies|Mistra Closing the Loop, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research [160026]

Waste management in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has been a major research topic owing to the AEC industry being one of the top contributors of waste generation. However, research has primarily focused on new build and has neglected refurbishment projects which become relevant due to an aging building stock in Sweden and Europe. Various actors are involved in refurbishment projects which makes it important to study each actor as well as tensions between them. By using a service ecosystem perspective and relying on 38 interviews, this paper aims to investigate tensions and barriers between actors within the service ecosystem of CDW for refurbishment projects in Sweden. Based on the results, spatial barriers are the most mentioned barrier which also create the highest number of tensions between project and contractor mother firm, subcontractors, waste recycling firms and society/citizens. The majority of the tensions are found between projects and the contractor mother firms, followed by tensions between projects and clients and projects and subcontractors. Unlike previous studies investigating only one of the actors waste management practices, this paper contributes by investigating the interactions between seven different actors which is important for improving waste management practices in refurbishment projects., Funding Agencies|Mistra Closing the Loop, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research [160026]

Waste management in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has been a major research topic owing to the AEC industry being one of the top contributors of waste generation. However, research has primarily focused on new build and has neglected refurbishment projects which become relevant due to an aging building stock in Sweden and Europe. Various actors are involved in refurbishment projects which makes it important to study each actor as well as tensions between them. By using a service ecosystem perspective and relying on 38 interviews, this paper aims to investigate tensions and barriers between actors within the service ecosystem of CDW for refurbishment projects in Sweden. Based on the results, spatial barriers are the most mentioned barrier which also create the highest number of tensions between project and contractor mother firm, subcontractors, waste recycling firms and society/citizens. The majority of the tensions are found between projects and the contractor mother firms, followed by tensions between projects and clients and projects and subcontractors. Unlike previous studies investigating only one of the actors waste management practices, this paper contributes by investigating the interactions between seven different actors which is important for improving waste management practices in refurbishment projects., Funding Agencies|Mistra Closing the Loop, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research [160026]

Waste management in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has been a major research topic owing to the AEC industry being one of the top contributors of waste generation. However, research has primarily focused on new build and has neglected refurbishment projects which become relevant due to an aging building stock in Sweden and Europe. Various actors are involved in refurbishment projects which makes it important to study each actor as well as tensions between them. By using a service ecosystem perspective and relying on 38 interviews, this paper aims to investigate tensions and barriers between actors within the service ecosystem of CDW for refurbishment projects in Sweden. Based on the results, spatial barriers are the most mentioned barrier which also create the highest number of tensions between project and contractor mother firm, subcontractors, waste recycling firms and society/citizens. The majority of the tensions are found between projects and the contractor mother firms, followed by tensions between projects and clients and projects and subcontractors. Unlike previous studies investigating only one of the actors waste management practices, this paper contributes by investigating the interactions between seven different actors which is important for improving waste management practices in refurbishment projects., Funding Agencies|Mistra Closing the Loop, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research [160026]

Waste management in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has been a major research topic owing to the AEC industry being one of the top contributors of waste generation. However, research has primarily focused on new build and has neglected refurbishment projects which become relevant due to an aging building stock in Sweden and Europe. Various actors are involved in refurbishment projects which makes it important to study each actor as well as tensions between them. By using a service ecosystem perspective and relying on 38 interviews, this paper aims to investigate tensions and barriers between actors within the service ecosystem of CDW for refurbishment projects in Sweden. Based on the results, spatial barriers are the most mentioned barrier which also create the highest number of tensions between project and contractor mother firm, subcontractors, waste recycling firms and society/citizens. The majority of the tensions are found between projects and the contractor mother firms, followed by tensions between projects and clients and projects and subcontractors. Unlike previous studies investigating only one of the actors waste management practices, this paper contributes by investigating the interactions between seven different actors which is important for improving waste management practices in refurbishment projects., Funding Agencies|Mistra Closing the Loop, the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research [160026]

Purpose Over one million organisations have a quality management system (QMS) certified to the ISO 9001 standard; however, the system requires a lot of resources and its value has been questioned. This critique also leads to a questioning of the strategic relevance of quality management. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different types of uses of QMS correlate with management perceptions of quality management in terms of respect, cost and strategic importance. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a mixed method data collection strategy, quantitative data being collected from a survey in 8 organisations (n = 108) and qualitative data being collected from 12 interviews with quality managers in 12 different organisations. Findings The paper shows that a compliance-oriented QMS usage will more likely lead to a view of quality management as costly and of little respect, than a business or improvement-oriented QMS usage. Moreover, it nuances the view on compliance-oriented usage, showing that it is mainly documentation that negatively influences how management views quality management, whereas standardisation that is part of the compliance-oriented use is perceived as more value-adding. Originality/value This paper suggests three types of QMS use, namely, business management, improvement, and compliance-oriented use, and that a wise selection of how to use the QMS will affect the respect, strategic importance and cost that management associates with quality management., Funding Agencies|Swedish Quality Management Academy; Production Area of Advance at Chalmers; HELIX Competence Centre at Linkoping University

Purpose Over one million organisations have a quality management system (QMS) certified to the ISO 9001 standard; however, the system requires a lot of resources and its value has been questioned. This critique also leads to a questioning of the strategic relevance of quality management. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different types of uses of QMS correlate with management perceptions of quality management in terms of respect, cost and strategic importance. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a mixed method data collection strategy, quantitative data being collected from a survey in 8 organisations (n = 108) and qualitative data being collected from 12 interviews with quality managers in 12 different organisations. Findings The paper shows that a compliance-oriented QMS usage will more likely lead to a view of quality management as costly and of little respect, than a business or improvement-oriented QMS usage. Moreover, it nuances the view on compliance-oriented usage, showing that it is mainly documentation that negatively influences how management views quality management, whereas standardisation that is part of the compliance-oriented use is perceived as more value-adding. Originality/value This paper suggests three types of QMS use, namely, business management, improvement, and compliance-oriented use, and that a wise selection of how to use the QMS will affect the respect, strategic importance and cost that management associates with quality management., Funding Agencies|Swedish Quality Management Academy; Production Area of Advance at Chalmers; HELIX Competence Centre at Linkoping University

Purpose Over one million organisations have a quality management system (QMS) certified to the ISO 9001 standard; however, the system requires a lot of resources and its value has been questioned. This critique also leads to a questioning of the strategic relevance of quality management. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different types of uses of QMS correlate with management perceptions of quality management in terms of respect, cost and strategic importance. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a mixed method data collection strategy, quantitative data being collected from a survey in 8 organisations (n = 108) and qualitative data being collected from 12 interviews with quality managers in 12 different organisations. Findings The paper shows that a compliance-oriented QMS usage will more likely lead to a view of quality management as costly and of little respect, than a business or improvement-oriented QMS usage. Moreover, it nuances the view on compliance-oriented usage, showing that it is mainly documentation that negatively influences how management views quality management, whereas standardisation that is part of the compliance-oriented use is perceived as more value-adding. Originality/value This paper suggests three types of QMS use, namely, business management, improvement, and compliance-oriented use, and that a wise selection of how to use the QMS will affect the respect, strategic importance and cost that management associates with quality management., Funding Agencies|Swedish Quality Management Academy; Production Area of Advance at Chalmers; HELIX Competence Centre at Linkoping University

Purpose Over one million organisations have a quality management system (QMS) certified to the ISO 9001 standard; however, the system requires a lot of resources and its value has been questioned. This critique also leads to a questioning of the strategic relevance of quality management. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different types of uses of QMS correlate with management perceptions of quality management in terms of respect, cost and strategic importance. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a mixed method data collection strategy, quantitative data being collected from a survey in 8 organisations (n = 108) and qualitative data being collected from 12 interviews with quality managers in 12 different organisations. Findings The paper shows that a compliance-oriented QMS usage will more likely lead to a view of quality management as costly and of little respect, than a business or improvement-oriented QMS usage. Moreover, it nuances the view on compliance-oriented usage, showing that it is mainly documentation that negatively influences how management views quality management, whereas standardisation that is part of the compliance-oriented use is perceived as more value-adding. Originality/value This paper suggests three types of QMS use, namely, business management, improvement, and compliance-oriented use, and that a wise selection of how to use the QMS will affect the respect, strategic importance and cost that management associates with quality management., Funding Agencies|Swedish Quality Management Academy; Production Area of Advance at Chalmers; HELIX Competence Centre at Linkoping University

Purpose Over one million organisations have a quality management system (QMS) certified to the ISO 9001 standard; however, the system requires a lot of resources and its value has been questioned. This critique also leads to a questioning of the strategic relevance of quality management. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different types of uses of QMS correlate with management perceptions of quality management in terms of respect, cost and strategic importance. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a mixed method data collection strategy, quantitative data being collected from a survey in 8 organisations (n = 108) and qualitative data being collected from 12 interviews with quality managers in 12 different organisations. Findings The paper shows that a compliance-oriented QMS usage will more likely lead to a view of quality management as costly and of little respect, than a business or improvement-oriented QMS usage. Moreover, it nuances the view on compliance-oriented usage, showing that it is mainly documentation that negatively influences how management views quality management, whereas standardisation that is part of the compliance-oriented use is perceived as more value-adding. Originality/value This paper suggests three types of QMS use, namely, business management, improvement, and compliance-oriented use, and that a wise selection of how to use the QMS will affect the respect, strategic importance and cost that management associates with quality management., Funding Agencies|Swedish Quality Management Academy; Production Area of Advance at Chalmers; HELIX Competence Centre at Linkoping University

Purpose Over one million organisations have a quality management system (QMS) certified to the ISO 9001 standard; however, the system requires a lot of resources and its value has been questioned. This critique also leads to a questioning of the strategic relevance of quality management. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different types of uses of QMS correlate with management perceptions of quality management in terms of respect, cost and strategic importance. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a mixed method data collection strategy, quantitative data being collected from a survey in 8 organisations (n = 108) and qualitative data being collected from 12 interviews with quality managers in 12 different organisations. Findings The paper shows that a compliance-oriented QMS usage will more likely lead to a view of quality management as costly and of little respect, than a business or improvement-oriented QMS usage. Moreover, it nuances the view on compliance-oriented usage, showing that it is mainly documentation that negatively influences how management views quality management, whereas standardisation that is part of the compliance-oriented use is perceived as more value-adding. Originality/value This paper suggests three types of QMS use, namely, business management, improvement, and compliance-oriented use, and that a wise selection of how to use the QMS will affect the respect, strategic importance and cost that management associates with quality management., Funding Agencies|Swedish Quality Management Academy; Production Area of Advance at Chalmers; HELIX Competence Centre at Linkoping University

The purpose of this paper is to explore the characteristics and activities of intermediaries that are involved in innovation diffusion and, thus, contribute to the acceleration of sustainability transitions. The paper develops a taxonomy of four types of diffusion intermediaries based on official firm registry data on intermediaries involved in renewable electricity technologies in Sweden, which differ from each other in terms of business activity width and sectoral coverage. An analysis of the intermediaries business descriptions shows that: (1) most intermediaries are not exclusively involved in intermediation and many are active in several sectors, (2) the relative importance of different intermediation activities varies between different types of intermediaries, and (3) diffusion intermediation has a technology-specific component. These findings imply that researchers and policy makers should not treat diffusion intermediaries as a homogeneous collective. Moreover, there might be an (unexploited) potential for intermediaries and policy makers to exploit cross-sectoral learning., Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [40642-1]

This paper provides new understanding on how intermediary actors support the adoption of renewable electricity technology. While intermediaries complement each other in different phases of the process, there are also gaps and overlaps in the support that they provide. Results indicate that there is a great need of improving the communication among intermediaries and of a higher level of coordination among the tasks performed. Fostering the widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies is one of the most important drivers to limit the irreversible consequences of global warming that the world is facing today. However, the process of adopting such innovations is often complex and challenging. Previous studies have recognized the crucial role of intermediaries in facilitating the adoption process. Yet, little is known about how different intermediaries support the various adoption process phases, which intermediary type does what, and whether there are support gaps or overlaps among them. The authors of this paper contribute to previous research on innovation adoption and innovation intermediaries based upon research on the adoption context of renewable energy technologies in Sweden. They gathered secondary data and semi-structured interviews with nineteen intermediaries who support the adoption process of renewable energy technologies. The finding of this paper has implications on policy design, with regard, to how intermediaries can better perform in a technology diffusion context and to how intermediaries can be coordinated to provide better services during the different phases of the adoption process. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved., Funding Agencies|Swedish Energy AgencySwedish Energy Agency [40642-1]

In this paper, Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube (VACNT) forests are embedded into two different glass fibre/ epoxy composite systems to study their sensing abilities to strain and temperature. Through a bottom-up approach, performing studies of the VACNT forest and its individual carbon nanotubes on the nano-, micro-, and mesoscale, the observed thermoresistive effect is determined to be due to fluctuation-assisted tunnelling, and the linear piezoresistive effect due to the intrinsic piezoresistivity of individual carbon nanotubes. The VACNT forests offer great freedom of placement into the structure and reproducibility of sensing sensitivity in both composite systems, independent of conductivity and volume fraction, producing a robust sensor to strain and temperature., Funding Agencies|Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Vinnova; SAAB AB; XPRES (Centre of Excellence in Production Research - a strategic research area in Sweden

In this paper, Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube (VACNT) forests are embedded into two different glass fibre/ epoxy composite systems to study their sensing abilities to strain and temperature. Through a bottom-up approach, performing studies of the VACNT forest and its individual carbon nanotubes on the nano-, micro-, and mesoscale, the observed thermoresistive effect is determined to be due to fluctuation-assisted tunnelling, and the linear piezoresistive effect due to the intrinsic piezoresistivity of individual carbon nanotubes. The VACNT forests offer great freedom of placement into the structure and reproducibility of sensing sensitivity in both composite systems, independent of conductivity and volume fraction, producing a robust sensor to strain and temperature., Funding Agencies|Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Vinnova; SAAB AB; XPRES (Centre of Excellence in Production Research - a strategic research area in Sweden

The thermal conversion of biomass fuel mixes in fluidized beds can cause agglomeration. To counteract agglomeration, bed material is gradually exchanged with virgin bed material, and this results in increased disposal of used bed material. Furthermore, the bed material exchange represents a costly option, as it involves a cost for virgin bed material, for landfill, and for unplanned downtime of the plant. This paper presents a novel method for the evaluation of bed material quality: the electronic tongue (ET). Evaluation of bed material quality can contribute toward decreasing the cost of unnecessary exchanges of bed material. The proposed method was tested on bed material sampled on an almost daily basis from a commercial fluidized bed boiler during several months of operation. A two-electrode ET was used for the evaluation of the bed material quality. The analysis relied on pulsed voltammetry measurements and multivariate data analysis with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results suggest that it is possible to follow bed material changes and that the ET, after further development, may be used to optimize the material flows connected to the bed material. Further research is being conducted to optimize the ETs performance and its application in monitoring bed material., Funding Agencies|Energimyndigheten (Swedish Energy Agency) [50450-1]

The thermal conversion of biomass fuel mixes in fluidized beds can cause agglomeration. To counteract agglomeration, bed material is gradually exchanged with virgin bed material, and this results in increased disposal of used bed material. Furthermore, the bed material exchange represents a costly option, as it involves a cost for virgin bed material, for landfill, and for unplanned downtime of the plant. This paper presents a novel method for the evaluation of bed material quality: the electronic tongue (ET). Evaluation of bed material quality can contribute toward decreasing the cost of unnecessary exchanges of bed material. The proposed method was tested on bed material sampled on an almost daily basis from a commercial fluidized bed boiler during several months of operation. A two-electrode ET was used for the evaluation of the bed material quality. The analysis relied on pulsed voltammetry measurements and multivariate data analysis with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results suggest that it is possible to follow bed material changes and that the ET, after further development, may be used to optimize the material flows connected to the bed material. Further research is being conducted to optimize the ETs performance and its application in monitoring bed material., Funding Agencies|Energimyndigheten (Swedish Energy Agency) [50450-1]

In this paper, Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube (VACNT) forests are embedded into two different glass fibre/ epoxy composite systems to study their sensing abilities to strain and temperature. Through a bottom-up approach, performing studies of the VACNT forest and its individual carbon nanotubes on the nano-, micro-, and mesoscale, the observed thermoresistive effect is determined to be due to fluctuation-assisted tunnelling, and the linear piezoresistive effect due to the intrinsic piezoresistivity of individual carbon nanotubes. The VACNT forests offer great freedom of placement into the structure and reproducibility of sensing sensitivity in both composite systems, independent of conductivity and volume fraction, producing a robust sensor to strain and temperature., Funding Agencies|Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, Vinnova; SAAB AB; XPRES (Centre of Excellence in Production Research - a strategic research area in Sweden

The thermal conversion of biomass fuel mixes in fluidized beds can cause agglomeration. To counteract agglomeration, bed material is gradually exchanged with virgin bed material, and this results in increased disposal of used bed material. Furthermore, the bed material exchange represents a costly option, as it involves a cost for virgin bed material, for landfill, and for unplanned downtime of the plant. This paper presents a novel method for the evaluation of bed material quality: the electronic tongue (ET). Evaluation of bed material quality can contribute toward decreasing the cost of unnecessary exchanges of bed material. The proposed method was tested on bed material sampled on an almost daily basis from a commercial fluidized bed boiler during several months of operation. A two-electrode ET was used for the evaluation of the bed material quality. The analysis relied on pulsed voltammetry measurements and multivariate data analysis with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results suggest that it is possible to follow bed material changes and that the ET, after further development, may be used to optimize the material flows connected to the bed material. Further research is being conducted to optimize the ETs performance and its application in monitoring bed material., Funding Agencies|Energimyndigheten (Swedish Energy Agency) [50450-1]

The thermal conversion of biomass fuel mixes in fluidized beds can cause agglomeration. To counteract agglomeration, bed material is gradually exchanged with virgin bed material, and this results in increased disposal of used bed material. Furthermore, the bed material exchange represents a costly option, as it involves a cost for virgin bed material, for landfill, and for unplanned downtime of the plant. This paper presents a novel method for the evaluation of bed material quality: the electronic tongue (ET). Evaluation of bed material quality can contribute toward decreasing the cost of unnecessary exchanges of bed material. The proposed method was tested on bed material sampled on an almost daily basis from a commercial fluidized bed boiler during several months of operation. A two-electrode ET was used for the evaluation of the bed material quality. The analysis relied on pulsed voltammetry measurements and multivariate data analysis with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results suggest that it is possible to follow bed material changes and that the ET, after further development, may be used to optimize the material flows connected to the bed material. Further research is being conducted to optimize the ETs performance and its application in monitoring bed material., Funding Agencies|Energimyndigheten (Swedish Energy Agency) [50450-1]

The thermal conversion of biomass fuel mixes in fluidized beds can cause agglomeration. To counteract agglomeration, bed material is gradually exchanged with virgin bed material, and this results in increased disposal of used bed material. Furthermore, the bed material exchange represents a costly option, as it involves a cost for virgin bed material, for landfill, and for unplanned downtime of the plant. This paper presents a novel method for the evaluation of bed material quality: the electronic tongue (ET). Evaluation of bed material quality can contribute toward decreasing the cost of unnecessary exchanges of bed material. The proposed method was tested on bed material sampled on an almost daily basis from a commercial fluidized bed boiler during several months of operation. A two-electrode ET was used for the evaluation of the bed material quality. The analysis relied on pulsed voltammetry measurements and multivariate data analysis with Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results suggest that it is possible to follow bed material changes and that the ET, after further development, may be used to optimize the material flows connected to the bed material. Further research is being conducted to optimize the ETs performance and its application in monitoring bed material., Funding Agencies|Energimyndigheten (Swedish Energy Agency) [50450-1]

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of plasmonic nanostructures for color generation, a technology that dates back to ancient times. Plasmonic structural colors have several attractive features but once the structures arc prepared the colors arc normally fixed. Lately, several concepts have emerged for actively tuning the colors, which opens up for many new potential applications, the most obvious being novel color displays. In this review we summarize recent progress in active control of plasmonic colors and evaluate them with respect to performance criteria for color displays. It is suggested that actively controlled plasmonic colors are generally less interesting for emissive displays but could be useful for new types of electrochromic devices relying on ambient light (electronic paper). Furthermore, there are several other potential applications such as images to be revealed on demand and colorimetric sensors., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]

Many organisations use daily meetings, whiteboards and an information system for employee intra-communication. While Operation Management research is often management centred, Human Centred Design, instead, takes a users perspective. This research aims to reflect upon and describe a method, applied in practice in a double case study within manufacturing, on how to (re-)design meetings and visual management boards, and what type of information and key performance indicators are most relevant for the personnel. The paper proposes a lean Kata-improvement inspired design method, which takes the personnels perspective on design of daily visual management. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Integrating novel software systems in our society, economy, and environment can have far-reaching effects. As a result, software systems should be designed in such a way as to maintain or improve the sustainability of the socio-technical system of their destination. However, a paradigm shift is required to raise awareness of software professionals on the potential sustainability effects of software systems. While Requirements Engineering is considered the key to driving this change, requirements engineers lack the knowledge, experience and methodological support for doing so. This paper presents a question-based framework for raising awareness of the potential effects of software systems on sustainability, as the first step towards enabling the required paradigm shift. A feasibility study of the framework was carried out with two groups of computer science students. The results of the study indicate that the framework helps enable discussions about potential effects that software systems could have on sustainability., Funding Agencies|EUEuropean Union (EU) [712949]; Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Government of Catalonia; EPSRCEngineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) [EP/R007373/1]; Digitaldialog 21 - Ministry for Science, Research and Art Baden-Wrttemberg

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of plasmonic nanostructures for color generation, a technology that dates back to ancient times. Plasmonic structural colors have several attractive features but once the structures arc prepared the colors arc normally fixed. Lately, several concepts have emerged for actively tuning the colors, which opens up for many new potential applications, the most obvious being novel color displays. In this review we summarize recent progress in active control of plasmonic colors and evaluate them with respect to performance criteria for color displays. It is suggested that actively controlled plasmonic colors are generally less interesting for emissive displays but could be useful for new types of electrochromic devices relying on ambient light (electronic paper). Furthermore, there are several other potential applications such as images to be revealed on demand and colorimetric sensors., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of plasmonic nanostructures for color generation, a technology that dates back to ancient times. Plasmonic structural colors have several attractive features but once the structures arc prepared the colors arc normally fixed. Lately, several concepts have emerged for actively tuning the colors, which opens up for many new potential applications, the most obvious being novel color displays. In this review we summarize recent progress in active control of plasmonic colors and evaluate them with respect to performance criteria for color displays. It is suggested that actively controlled plasmonic colors are generally less interesting for emissive displays but could be useful for new types of electrochromic devices relying on ambient light (electronic paper). Furthermore, there are several other potential applications such as images to be revealed on demand and colorimetric sensors., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of plasmonic nanostructures for color generation, a technology that dates back to ancient times. Plasmonic structural colors have several attractive features but once the structures arc prepared the colors arc normally fixed. Lately, several concepts have emerged for actively tuning the colors, which opens up for many new potential applications, the most obvious being novel color displays. In this review we summarize recent progress in active control of plasmonic colors and evaluate them with respect to performance criteria for color displays. It is suggested that actively controlled plasmonic colors are generally less interesting for emissive displays but could be useful for new types of electrochromic devices relying on ambient light (electronic paper). Furthermore, there are several other potential applications such as images to be revealed on demand and colorimetric sensors., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of plasmonic nanostructures for color generation, a technology that dates back to ancient times. Plasmonic structural colors have several attractive features but once the structures arc prepared the colors arc normally fixed. Lately, several concepts have emerged for actively tuning the colors, which opens up for many new potential applications, the most obvious being novel color displays. In this review we summarize recent progress in active control of plasmonic colors and evaluate them with respect to performance criteria for color displays. It is suggested that actively controlled plasmonic colors are generally less interesting for emissive displays but could be useful for new types of electrochromic devices relying on ambient light (electronic paper). Furthermore, there are several other potential applications such as images to be revealed on demand and colorimetric sensors., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of plasmonic nanostructures for color generation, a technology that dates back to ancient times. Plasmonic structural colors have several attractive features but once the structures arc prepared the colors arc normally fixed. Lately, several concepts have emerged for actively tuning the colors, which opens up for many new potential applications, the most obvious being novel color displays. In this review we summarize recent progress in active control of plasmonic colors and evaluate them with respect to performance criteria for color displays. It is suggested that actively controlled plasmonic colors are generally less interesting for emissive displays but could be useful for new types of electrochromic devices relying on ambient light (electronic paper). Furthermore, there are several other potential applications such as images to be revealed on demand and colorimetric sensors., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]

Context: Exploratory testing plays an important role in the continuous integration and delivery pipelines of large-scale software systems, but a holistic and structured approach is needed to realize efficient and effective exploratory testing. Objective: This paper seeks to address the need for a structured and reliable approach by providing a tangible model, supporting practitioners in the industry to optimize exploratory testing in each individual case. Method: The reported study includes interviews, group interviews and workshops with representatives from six companies, all multi-national organizations with more than 2,000 employees. Results: The ExET model (Excellence in Exploratory Testing) is presented. It is shown that the ExET model allows companies to identify and visualize strengths and improvement areas. The model is based on a set of key factors that have been shown to enable efficient and effective exploratory testing of large-scale software systems, grouped into four themes: "The testers knowledge, experience and personality", "Purpose and scope", "Ways of working" and "Recording and reporting". Conclusions: The validation of the ExET model showed that the model is novel, actionable and useful in practice, showing companies what they should prioritize in order to enable efficient and effective exploratory testing in their organization. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This paper proposes scheduling and power control schemes to mitigate the impact of both co-channel interference (CCI) and adjacent channel interference (ACI) on direct vehicle-to-vehicle broadcast communication. The objective is to maximize the number of vehicles that can communicate with the prescribed requirement on latency and reliability. The joint scheduling and power control problem is formulated as a mixed Boolean linear programming (MBLP) problem. A column generation method is proposed to reduce the computational complexity of the joint problem. From the joint problem, we formulate a scheduling-alone problem (given a power allocation) as a Boolean linear programming (BLP) problem and a power control-alone problem (given a schedule) as an MBLP problem. The scheduling problem is numerically sensitive due to the high dynamic range of channel values and adjacent channel interference ratio (ACIR) values. Therefore, a novel sensitivity reduction technique, which can compute a numerically stable optimal solution at the price of increased computational complexity, is proposed. Numerical results show that ACI, just as CCI, is a serious problem in direct vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication due to near-far situations and hence should not be ignored, and its impact can be reduced by proper scheduling and power control., Funding Agencies|H2020 Project 5GCAR - EU

The possibility of actively controlling structural colors has recently attracted a lot of attention, in particular for new types of reflective displays (electronic paper). However, it has proven challenging to achieve good image quality in such devices, mainly because many subpixels are necessary and the semi-transparent counter electrodes lower the total reflectance. Here we present an inorganic electrochromic nanostructure based on tungsten trioxide, gold, and a thin platinum mirror. The platinum reflector provides a wide color range and makes it possible to "reverse" the device design so that electrolyte and counter electrode can be placed behind the nanostructures with respect to the viewer. Importantly, this makes it possible to maintain high reflectance regardless of how the electrochemical cell is constructed. We show that our nanostructures clearly outperform the latest commercial color e-reader in terms of both color range and brightness., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic ResearchSwedish Foundation for Strategic Research [EM16-0002]

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is regarded as an alternative to traditional cryptography methods for securing data communication by quantum mechanics rather than computational complexity. Towards the massive deployment of QKD, embedding it with the telecommunication system is crucially important. Homogenous optical multi-core fibers (MCFs) compatible with spatial division multiplexing (SDM) are essential components for the next-generation optical communication infrastructure, which provides a big potential for co-existence of optical telecommunication systems and QKD. However, the QKD channel is extremely vulnerable due to the fact that the quantum states can be annihilated by noise during signal propagation. Thus, investigation of telecom compatibility for QKD co-existing with high-speed classical communication in SDM transmission media is needed. In this paper, we present analytical models of the noise sources in QKD links over heterogeneous MCFs. Spontaneous Raman scattering and inter-core crosstalk are experimentally characterized over spans of MCFs with different refractive index profiles, emulating shared telecom traffic conditions. Lower bounds for the secret key rates and quantum bit error rate (QBER) due to different core/wavelength allocation are obtained to validate intra- and inter-core co-existence of QKD and classical telecommunication., Funding Agencies|Ceniit-Linkoping University; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF)Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Goran Gustafsson Foundation; Celtic-Plus sub-project SENDATE-EXTEND - VinnovaVinnova; EU H2020 project TWILIGHT [871741]; VinnovaVinnova; National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China [61722108]; H2020 NEWMAN Project [752826]; AoA ICT seed project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; Genie project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; The Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundationKnut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is regarded as an alternative to traditional cryptography methods for securing data communication by quantum mechanics rather than computational complexity. Towards the massive deployment of QKD, embedding it with the telecommunication system is crucially important. Homogenous optical multi-core fibers (MCFs) compatible with spatial division multiplexing (SDM) are essential components for the next-generation optical communication infrastructure, which provides a big potential for co-existence of optical telecommunication systems and QKD. However, the QKD channel is extremely vulnerable due to the fact that the quantum states can be annihilated by noise during signal propagation. Thus, investigation of telecom compatibility for QKD co-existing with high-speed classical communication in SDM transmission media is needed. In this paper, we present analytical models of the noise sources in QKD links over heterogeneous MCFs. Spontaneous Raman scattering and inter-core crosstalk are experimentally characterized over spans of MCFs with different refractive index profiles, emulating shared telecom traffic conditions. Lower bounds for the secret key rates and quantum bit error rate (QBER) due to different core/wavelength allocation are obtained to validate intra- and inter-core co-existence of QKD and classical telecommunication., Funding Agencies|Ceniit-Linkoping University; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF)Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Goran Gustafsson Foundation; Celtic-Plus sub-project SENDATE-EXTEND - VinnovaVinnova; EU H2020 project TWILIGHT [871741]; VinnovaVinnova; National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China [61722108]; H2020 NEWMAN Project [752826]; AoA ICT seed project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; Genie project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; The Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundationKnut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is regarded as an alternative to traditional cryptography methods for securing data communication by quantum mechanics rather than computational complexity. Towards the massive deployment of QKD, embedding it with the telecommunication system is crucially important. Homogenous optical multi-core fibers (MCFs) compatible with spatial division multiplexing (SDM) are essential components for the next-generation optical communication infrastructure, which provides a big potential for co-existence of optical telecommunication systems and QKD. However, the QKD channel is extremely vulnerable due to the fact that the quantum states can be annihilated by noise during signal propagation. Thus, investigation of telecom compatibility for QKD co-existing with high-speed classical communication in SDM transmission media is needed. In this paper, we present analytical models of the noise sources in QKD links over heterogeneous MCFs. Spontaneous Raman scattering and inter-core crosstalk are experimentally characterized over spans of MCFs with different refractive index profiles, emulating shared telecom traffic conditions. Lower bounds for the secret key rates and quantum bit error rate (QBER) due to different core/wavelength allocation are obtained to validate intra- and inter-core co-existence of QKD and classical telecommunication., Funding Agencies|Ceniit-Linkoping University; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF)Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Goran Gustafsson Foundation; Celtic-Plus sub-project SENDATE-EXTEND - VinnovaVinnova; EU H2020 project TWILIGHT [871741]; VinnovaVinnova; National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China [61722108]; H2020 NEWMAN Project [752826]; AoA ICT seed project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; Genie project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; The Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundationKnut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is regarded as an alternative to traditional cryptography methods for securing data communication by quantum mechanics rather than computational complexity. Towards the massive deployment of QKD, embedding it with the telecommunication system is crucially important. Homogenous optical multi-core fibers (MCFs) compatible with spatial division multiplexing (SDM) are essential components for the next-generation optical communication infrastructure, which provides a big potential for co-existence of optical telecommunication systems and QKD. However, the QKD channel is extremely vulnerable due to the fact that the quantum states can be annihilated by noise during signal propagation. Thus, investigation of telecom compatibility for QKD co-existing with high-speed classical communication in SDM transmission media is needed. In this paper, we present analytical models of the noise sources in QKD links over heterogeneous MCFs. Spontaneous Raman scattering and inter-core crosstalk are experimentally characterized over spans of MCFs with different refractive index profiles, emulating shared telecom traffic conditions. Lower bounds for the secret key rates and quantum bit error rate (QBER) due to different core/wavelength allocation are obtained to validate intra- and inter-core co-existence of QKD and classical telecommunication., Funding Agencies|Ceniit-Linkoping University; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF)Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Goran Gustafsson Foundation; Celtic-Plus sub-project SENDATE-EXTEND - VinnovaVinnova; EU H2020 project TWILIGHT [871741]; VinnovaVinnova; National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China [61722108]; H2020 NEWMAN Project [752826]; AoA ICT seed project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; Genie project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; The Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundationKnut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is regarded as an alternative to traditional cryptography methods for securing data communication by quantum mechanics rather than computational complexity. Towards the massive deployment of QKD, embedding it with the telecommunication system is crucially important. Homogenous optical multi-core fibers (MCFs) compatible with spatial division multiplexing (SDM) are essential components for the next-generation optical communication infrastructure, which provides a big potential for co-existence of optical telecommunication systems and QKD. However, the QKD channel is extremely vulnerable due to the fact that the quantum states can be annihilated by noise during signal propagation. Thus, investigation of telecom compatibility for QKD co-existing with high-speed classical communication in SDM transmission media is needed. In this paper, we present analytical models of the noise sources in QKD links over heterogeneous MCFs. Spontaneous Raman scattering and inter-core crosstalk are experimentally characterized over spans of MCFs with different refractive index profiles, emulating shared telecom traffic conditions. Lower bounds for the secret key rates and quantum bit error rate (QBER) due to different core/wavelength allocation are obtained to validate intra- and inter-core co-existence of QKD and classical telecommunication., Funding Agencies|Ceniit-Linkoping University; Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF)Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Goran Gustafsson Foundation; Celtic-Plus sub-project SENDATE-EXTEND - VinnovaVinnova; EU H2020 project TWILIGHT [871741]; VinnovaVinnova; National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China [61722108]; H2020 NEWMAN Project [752826]; AoA ICT seed project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; Genie project - Chalmers University of Technology Foundation; The Knut and Alice Wallenberg foundationKnut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation; Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council