How can legacy industries fit into the energy transition

 

Life Cycle Assessment of green hydrogen supply and its use in an industry cluster

Aranzazu Oviedo Viviant

The project aims to devise a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) model, evaluating the performance of two alkaline electrolyzers (AEL) designs, traditional and zero-gap. Furthermore, a case study for an industry cluster in Huelva, Spain, is developed. The case study aims to set scenarios for the decarbonization of this cluster over time (2020-2050), considering the Spanish Hydrogen Roadmap targets. Consequently, different hydrogen production methods (SMR with & without CCS, AEL) and electricity supply options (grid and hybrid system) have been contemplated.

Supervisors:

• Prof Anna Korre, Energy Futures Lab / Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London
• Dr Zhenggang Nie, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London

 

Achieving Low Abatement Cost in Industrial Energy Systems: Combining Concepts Hierarchically

Baptiste Kas

On the road to Net Zero, industry has a key role to play, as it accounts for 21% of UK emissions. Despite major efforts in the last decades, the GHG abatement required in the sector is yet estimated at 90% by the CCC.

Supervisors:

• Dr Gbemi Oluleye, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London

 

Smart and flexible HVAC management framework for commercial buildings

Camille Daveau

This project aims at investigating smart control strategies for HVAC systems in existing commercial buildings using IoT and cloud based solutions. Through data analytics and machine learning it seeks to identify new strategies to minimise energy costs for consumers via enhanced controls.

Supervisors:

• Dr Salvador Acha, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London
• Dr Edward O’Dwyer, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London
• Prof Nilay Shah, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London

 

Optimal Smart Energy System Control: an application to the case study of Swindon

Damien Calvet

The city of Swindon is developing a complex energy system around an industrial pole. The ambition is to link together the industrial energy demand, battery storage, solar panels, electric vehicles chargers and domestic heat into a single complex system. This research project aims at developing a computational solution that enable an optimal control of the system overall in terms of cost and CO2 emissions. The software can also forecast the consequences of changes in the system in order to enable the best development and construction choices. The solution proposed is applied to the case study of Swindon but was built in order to be replicable and used in any other similar system.

Supervisors:

• Dr Jeffrey Hardy, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London
• Dr Koen Van Dam, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London

 

The role of Combined Heat & Power in Net Zero world

Demir Kabylbayev

Combined heat and power (CHP) technology enables to supply power, heat & cooling with superior fuel and cost efficiency and reduced environmental footprint. However, there are growing concerns that the potential of that fossil fuel-powered technology may hit the point of diminishing returns and our future is not compatible with any fossil fuels at all. The study will explore the aspects of hydrogen fueled CHP infrastructure and develop a techno-economic model to identify an optimum time for a transition from fossil to low carbon fuels.

Supervisors:

• Dr Salvador Acha, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London
• Prof Nilay Shah, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London

 

Raising Energy Awareness of Dynamic UK Electricity Prices

Guilherme Raposo Diniz Vieira

The UK non-domestic consumers are facing rising electricity costs, have a complex billing structure and usually lack energy awareness about the electricity charges, especially SMEs. The project aims to inform consumers about their HH electricity costs with the purpose to understand the value such information can bring towards smarter energy practices. A website with an API to access bespoke estimated electricity costs data was made available and the research focused on investigating the prospective electricity bill components changes, evaluating the risks if consumers keep their current electricity management approach and how the developed tools could help to raise energy awareness for SMEs.

Supervisors:

• Dr Salvador Acha, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London
• Prof Nilay Shah, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London

 

Pathways to Commercialise Carbon Capture and Storage in Integrated Iron and Steel Plants

Halima Abu Ali

Carbon Capture technologies are crucial for emissions abatement, particularly in iron and steel production. However, interventions in policies and business models are required to promote wide-scale market uptake. This research applies a novel Market Potential Analysis to synthesize several pathways to make CCS in integrated steel plants cost-effective for industry and government. The pathways show the maximum market share/uptake commensurate with the emissions reduction potential for 7 CCS technology types. The method is applied to a global case study of all integrated steel plants (400 plants in 44 countries).

Supervisors:

• Dr. Gbemi Oluleye, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London

 

Modelling the decarbonisation of industry based on publicly available data to evaluate the infrastructure requirements of heat decarbonisation across sectors in Great Britain

Klara Adams

Whilst many sectors such as transport and power have faced increasingly stringent regulations in recent years in an attempt to decarbonise, the industrial sector has yet to tap its full decarbonisation potential. This will have to be addressed if net zero target is to be achieved by 2050. Hence, this project seeks to evaluate the spatial and temporal deployment of decarbonisation options for large combustion plants in UK energy-intensive industries. A special focus is placed on the development of hydrogen and carbon infrastructure by expanding an existing GAMS model which currently focuses on the decarbonisation of domestic and commercial heat demands.

Supervisors:

• Maria Yliruka, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London
• Prof Nilay Shah, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London

 

Pathways to Commercialisation of Hydrogen Boilers & CHPs in the UK Chemical Sector

Milosz Tlaka

Enabling a decarbonisation transition of industry is challenging for a plethora of reasons but lowering the financial barrier is vital. This project quantifies how constructive and destructive policies can be combined to balance the transition’s cost between each party (government & industry) compared to individual policy implementations via a market potential analysis. Next, the price reducing effect of hydrogen’s production learning rate (due to increased demand) on the total cost of fuel switching of boilers and CHPs to it in the UK chemical sector is shown. This culminates in the creation and comparison of commercialisation pathways of these devices in blue and green hydrogen scenarios.

Supervisors:

• Dr Gbemi Oluleye, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London