Enhanced oil/gas recovery and CO2 storage are a displacement process at pore scale, in which oil and gas are displaced by water or CO2 in reservoir at pore scale, or water is displaced by CO2 in aquifers at pore scale. This displacement is controlled by pore structure, pore wettability, pore surface chemistry, fluid viscosity and interfacial interaction between pore fluids and pore surfaces. The displacement controls the pore connectivity, therefore oil/gas recovery and CO2 storage capacity. We investigate the displacement and the effect of various factors on the displacement at pore scale and core scale.
Bubbling fluidization has been widely applied in process industries, such as power generation from coal, renewable energy production, gasification and pyrolysis. In this study, we attempted to predict solid flow patterns, solid and gas mixing, bubble behaviour in a bubbling fluidized bed based on operational conditions and bed design.
To address the need for effective vis response photocatalysts, we have synthesised WO3 and TiO2 nanowires to provide a fast transport channel for the photo-generated electrons which can retard the charge recombination. We are working on improving the visible activity of the catalysts through modifying the nanocomposites using metal (Ag, W, V, Fe, Ni) and non-metal (C, N, B, S) elements, and through the control over the microstructure or even over the crystal phase.
In recent years, experimental investigations have been performed on the effect on drag foul release coatings at the University of Newcastle in partnership with International Paint Ltd.
The increasing amounts of renewable energy present on the national grid reduce C02 emissions caused by electrical power but they fit into an electrical grid designed for fossil fuels. Fossil fuels can be turned on and off at will and so are very good at matching variations in load. Renewable energy in the form of wind turbines is more variable (although that variability is much more predictable than most people think) and there is a need for existing power plants to operate much more flexibly to accommodate the changing power output from wind, tidal and solar power.
This project aims to innovate and improved solutions for the management of power flows in a hybrid electrical power system, to provide a secure, reliable, and high quality supply to varying load demands. The expected research outcome is the design of a robust and fault-tolerant management system, featuring higher efficiency and improved techno-economic performance.
Optimal system sizing through linear programming
Testing and analysis of an off-the-shelf hybrid system
Novel control system design for optimised performance
Running from October 2012 to September 2016, UP-VLC is an ambitious EPSRC-funded £4.6 million Programme Grant which will explore the transformative technology of communications in an imaginative and foresighted way.
Gas separations on offshore platforms are of increasing importance for the purification of natural gas and for the separation of CO2 used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
