Proyectos

El Centro de Modelamiento Matemático (CMM) es un centro científico líder en Chile para la investigación y aplicaciones de las matemáticas. Fue inaugurado en abril del 2000 y forma parte de la Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas (FCFM) de la Universidad de Chile, en la que se encuentra la principal y más antigua escuela de ingeniería del país. Su objetivo es crear nuevas matemáticas y utilizarlas para resolver problemas provenientes de otras ciencias, la industria y las políticas públicas.

En este proyecto, se busca general nuevas tecnologías que permitan mejorar el manejo de recursos hídricos en la sexta región. Director de línea "Gestión de Riego Intrapredial con Inteligencia Artificial"

Stochastic Optimization and Chance Constraints with Applications to Energy (SOCCAE)

Nonsmooth dynamical system involving regular structures

Estudio de problemas de optimización y juegos con incertidumbre dependiente de decisiones. Estudio a nivel teórico y algorítmico. Estudio de aplicaciones.

TRANSFERENCIA SUPERCOMPUTACIÓN PARA INNOVACIÓN EN SALUD REGIONAL: HPC-UOH Y HRLBO

Implementación de una microrred de energías renovables (solar, eólica y geotérmica) en el distrito salinero artesanal Barranca-La Villa de Cáhuil. Implementación de una planta piloto geotérmica de producción de sal y electrificación de bombas y planta de yodación comunitaria mediante energías renovables no convencionales.

The main aim of the present proposal is to assess, in the Western Andean Front, the magnitude and the spatiotemporal variability of deep groundwater flows and derived mountain block recharge using an original and direct collection of hydrogeological, lithological, and geophysical data. Specific objectives are: - Obj. 1: Assess the spatial variation at depth of the Abanico Formation hydraulic properties to improve the understanding of Western Andean Front fault systems and their impacts on the water transference to alluvial aquifers. - Obj. 2: Unravel the aquifer capacity of fractured rocks (i.e. Abanico Formation) and the critical zone extinction depth for groundwater flows and mountain block recharge mechanisms in the Western Andean Front of Central Chile. - Obj. 3: Estimate the mountain block recharge mechanisms regarding their quantitative (flow) and qualitative (hydrogeochemistry) aspects and assess the vulnerability of deep groundwater flows to shallow water-store variations caused by current and future hydroclimatic changes in the Western Andean Front. The study of borehole core lithological and hydraulic properties, groundwater geochemical composition, flow rates, together with spring hydraulic and hydrogeochemistry behaviors will help to fill a gap of knowledge about deep groundwater flows originating from the Principal Cordillera. This deep borehole and derived original information will therefore be used as an “eye” inside the deep Chilean Andes groundwater resources. Finally, it will be a useful observation point for multidisciplinary research due to the interest of national and international researchers to collect samples at depth and therefore will expand shared knowledge and national frontier research

Ensuring a secure and sustainable water supply is a major challenge for the 21th century. The population growth, urbanization, and industrial/agriculture expansion need an increasing water provision, delivered at a constant rate. Furthermore, under the current climate change and droughts scenarios, with the depletion of surface water storage and quality, groundwater resources are fulfilling the growing water requirement for food and energy production. Estimated data indicate that in the 2010 ́s, groundwater supplies 36% of potable water, 43% of irrigated agriculture (considering the baseflow feeding rivers, this percentage is higher), and 24% of direct industrial water supply. The groundwater use is growing at a rate of 5% per year, and by 2050, the food and water demand will increase by 50%. However, the misconceiving and oversimplification of conceptual models about groundwater recharge points out that around 25% of its use is unsustainable. These considerations highlight how identifying innovative and integrated solutions to tackle the intertwined challenges of water and climate change as well as the complex interlink between water, energy, and food supply systems under current climate variability is an increasingly major imperative for the near future. The study of the water–energy–food nexus has received increasing attention from the global scientific community, focusing on how these three elements can interact sustainably. The interdependence of water resources, energy generation, and food production depends on reliable data and information on these resources. In this context, groundwater can serve to supply water and energy demand, strengthening food security and reducing fossil fuel energy dependence. Aquifers can provide water and geothermal energy, a clean baseload resource independent from weather conditions, which could significantly contribute to energy needs, improved air quality and food production as well as to reach the decarbonization targets. This combined aquifer’s use improvement could be especially relevant in urban areas where more than 50% of the world’s population lives and which is forecast to increase to 68% by 2050 with associated greenhouse gas emissions growth up to 80%. Aquifers are important heat reservoirs because groundwater flow is a powerful heat carrier, which can help achieve a more sustainable water-energy-food management, representing a major challenge to improving water, energy, and food security. In fact, by 2050, the demand for water and food is expected to increase by 60%, and the energy demand will be practically doubled. In this proposal, the WEF nexus will be specially addressed from the point of view of resources to generate the necessary knowledge to understand its complexity in Central Chile, and that will provide a timely transfer of the existing connections to decision makers and society. The aim of this study will be to comprehend the recharge and connection of surface and ground water in Central Chile and unravel their relationship with energy and food production. In this sense, the focus is on evaluating the hydrological cycle from mountain areas to the lowlands and evaluating the possibility that water resources can generate enough heat for direct geothermal projects. These results, calculated based on real and current water data, will provide valuable information for the energy transition in Central Chile and will be an instrument to evaluate the real possibility of greenhouse gas reduction. Food production not only needs water but also to increase its resilience to extreme events (frost, heavy rains, etc.), so the relationship between water availability, production per hectare, and geothermal energy (direct use) to stabilize crop conditions will be explored.

We propose to undertake a 3-year long project, devoted to achieving a detailed comprehension of the Li dynamics and impacts, from source to sink, in the Andean salars (including Preandean and high Andean salars) of the Antofagasta Region of Chile (Fig. 1). The methodological approach is multidisciplinary and includes geological, hydrological, mineralogical, geochemical, microbiological and social techniques. The specific study cases are given by the Salar de Atacama (SDA), recognized as the most important Li brine reservoir in Chile (Cabello, 2022), and 3 salt flats domains located eastwards; these latter domains are, from south to north: Northern domain. Pujsa, Tara, and Quisquiro salt lakes. Southern domain. Capur, Talar, and Tuyajto salt lakes. Central domain. Aguas Calientes Sur and Laguna Lejia salt lakes.