Research Group: Energy Engineering

Objective

The common objective of the group is to harness fundamental technological and scientific research to facilitate the transition towards a sustainable energy economy. Our aims are to improve fuel handling, fuel conversion and combustion methods, to increase energy conversion efficiency and minimize pollution and safety hazards in processes involving power generation and energy supply.

Microstructural changes in Calcium-based CO₂ absorbents with increasing cycles of calcination and carbonation.  On the left, highly cycled materials with a large number of big pores.  On the right, freshly reacted particles (the pores are too small to see).  The change in the pore structure reduces greatly the uptake ability of the sorbent.  The scale bar is 5 microns.

Research Interests

Click here to download an overview of our research activities (PDF)

The research interests of academic staff associated with the new formation cover a wide field, centred on aspects of energy engineering:

• Fuel characterisation and thermochemical conversion of renewables and hydrocarbons
• Carbon management (capture, storage, and conversion)
• Oil and natural gas extraction, handling and processing
• Hydrogen technologies
• Combustion and gasification
• Ignition/autoignition phenomena, fire prediction/avoidance
• Environmental aspects of energy conversion
• The nuclear options
• Fuel Cell Technologies
• Unsteady/transient transport phenomena (heat and mass transfer, and fluid flow)
• Low grade heat utilisation

Present Activities Include:

• Design of safe systems for handling and disposing of high-pressure hydrocarbons including depressurisation, venting and flaring.
• Design of flow assurance systems for multiphase gas-liquid hydrocarbons including prevention or management of solids such as waxes, ice, hydrates & asphaltenes.
• All aspects of safety associated with high-pressure hydrocarbon system s.
• Design and characterisation of fuel cells, stacks and systems.
• Development o f novel diagnostic techniques to study operating fuel cells, and their application to the development of validated dynamic models of fuel cell operation.
• Fundamental measurements of materials properties related to fuel cell design, including electrode kinetics, and the electrical properties of fuel cell materials.
• Injection of CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery and carbon sequestration.
• Assessment of separation techniques for CO₂ from natural gas (physical and chemical absorption, membranes) by advanced thermodynamic and process modelling.
• Modelling of squeeze treatment of oil-wells for prevention of inorganic scales. 
• Modelling of hydrate formation for flow assurance. 
• Integrated sensors, modelling and control f or oilfield fluids and processes.
• Aspects of oilfield process engineering associated with heavy crudes.
• Understanding and control of fouling in heat exchangers of crude distillation units.
• Multiphase heat and mass transfer in boiler tubes and distillation columns.
• Design of novel combustion systems involving heat recirculating burners, electrical interactions, optical sensors and various diagnostic techniques.
• Development and design of laboratory scale thermochemical reactors simulating pilot/plant scale conversion processes for sustainable fuels (biomass, waste) and/or coal.
• Quantifying toxic emissions of thermochemical processing of solid fuels, wastes and biomass: trace element and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon releases; formation of gaseous nitrogen compounds (NH₃, HCN, NO_x ), ash and residue leachability after disposal.
• Development of analytical tools for the structural characterisation and catalytic hydrotreatment of petroleum, coal and biomass derived heavy hydrocarbon mixtures.
• Development and application of high resolution temperature/heat transfer/fluid flow sensors and technologies.
• Investigation of effects of unsteadiness on heat transfer characteristics between fluid flows and solid boundaries; design of improved heat exchanging and insulating components.
• Advancement of small temperature difference thermally-powered thermofluidic oscillators and other unsteady heat engines; development of distributive, small scale (including microcombustor-based), combined heating/cooling and power devices.
• Understanding effects of mixing and turbulence on manifestation and characteristics of autoignition; study of post-ignition flame propagation phenomena.

Collaboration

Industry, research organisations and universities throughout the world to ensure that our projects are focused in areas where they have a direct impact on the provision of sustainable and efficient energy technologies.

Dr. Marcos Millan-Agorio 
Dr. Paul Fennell
Programme Co-ordinators