In-situ Chemical Measurement and Imaging Diagnostics for Energy Process Engineering

The primary focus of the programme proposed here is to build across two universities (Strathclyde and Edinburgh) a world leading UK research, development and applications capability in the field of in-situ chemical and particulate measurement and imaging diagnostics for energy process engineering. Independently, the two university groups already have globally eminent capabilities in laser-based chemical and particulate measurement and imaging technologies. They have recently been working in partnership on a highly complex engineering project (EPSRC FLITES) to realise a chemical species measurement and diagnostic imaging system (7m diameter) that can be used on the exhaust plume of the largest gas turbine (aero) engines for engine health monitoring and fuels evaluation. Success depended on the skills acquired by the team and their highly collaborative partnership working. A key objective is to keep this team together and to enhance their capability, thus underpinning the research and development of industrial products, technology and applications. The proposed grant would also accelerate the exploitation of a strategic opportunity in the field that arises from the above work and from recent recruitment of academic staff to augment their activities. The proposed programme will result in a suite of new (probably hybrid) validated, diagnostic techniques for high-temperature energy processes (e.g. fuel cells, gas turbine engines, ammonia-burning engines, flame systems, etc.).

Planned Impact

Given the above objectives, benefit and economic gain will accrue to the diagnostic instrumentation suppliers to the UK energy process engineering sector, the opto-electronic sub-systems and component suppliers to the former, the energy systems and fuels suppliers, the academic research community and society as a whole. The instrumentation suppliers and their supply chains will benefit from the exploitation of the new diagnostic technologies and commercial products that will arise from them. The energy systems suppliers will benefit from cost savings in testing and R & D, product design improvements such as reduced emissions and better efficiency and reliability from improved system health monitoring and process control. Both of these industry sectors gain from on-going access to world leading research capability. Society, of course, gains from reduced emissions in terms of human health and mitigation of climate change. Finally, impact accrues to academia in the form of new techniques and knowledge (e.g. new spectroscopy data) to underpin research into new fuels development and evaluation and energy generation systems development.