The School of Engineering would like to extend its congratulations to Professor Mike Forde, FREng, FRSE who has been presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The proposed UK Consortium on Turbulent Reacting Flows will perform high-fidelity computational simulations (i.e. Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations (RANS), Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS)) by utilising national High Performance Computing (HPC) resources to address the challenges related to energy through the fundamental physical understanding and modelling of turbulent reacting flows. Engineering applications range from the formulation of reliable fire-safety measures to the design of energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly internal combustion engines and gas turbines.
Intelligent egress is a novel approach to enhancing evacuations from fire emergencies. It combines sensor-linked simulations and route-planning tools to provide real-time information to occupants on efficient egress. The specific issues associated with disabilities and mobility impairment are addressed. Mechanisms to provide “way finding” information to relevant end users are being studied. Detailed guidance and recommendations on use of such systems will be developed.
Hydrogen is expected to be highly valuable energy carrier for the 21st century as it should participate in answering main societal and economical concerns. To exploit its benefits at large scale, further research and technological developments are required. In particular, the storage of hydrogen must be secured. Even if burst in service of pressure vessels in composite material is very unlikely, when exposed to a fire, they present safety challenges imposing to correctly size their means of protection.
