• Energy Research
• OA Publications Mandate: No close
• 2021 close

Vacuum flat plate solar thermal systems offer advantages over both vacuum tube systems by collecting a greater fraction of the available solar resource and flat plate systems by allowing higher temperatures to be achieved with better efficiency. The vacuum envelope if at a pressure of less than 0.1Pa effectively suppresses gaseous conduction and convection allowing thin panels to be developed with increased suitability for building envelope integration. Solar energy availability and thus solar thermal heat generation is often out of phase with heat demand for water or space heating, requiring effective thermal storage to allow demands to be met. In this project designs for durable vacuum flat plate systems will be developed and prototype laboratory scale systems produced for performance evaluation. A detailed model of vacuum plate solar systems linked to different types of thermal storage will be developed. This model will allow different options and approaches for thermal storage, sensible, latent and thermochemical to be simulated to assess the level of solar savings fractions that can be achieved for a range of representative hot water and space heating loads. Prototype stores will be developed and characterised in the lab before outdoor testing of an integrated system comprising vacuum flat plate collector and thermal store.

Feasibility study to revolutionize Inspection, Repair and Maintenance, (IRM) by removing the service of retorqueing bolts out of the equation on fixed and floating wind farms. The study will focus on the location, function and maintenance requirements of bolted flange connections that are currently used for both fixed and floating wind structures and the alternative options available from the Oil and Gas Industry via the use of proven reliable maintenance free connection systems.

The proposed research will address the following questions: (i) How have different parts of the wind manufacturing value chain changed in terms of location? What factors explain these changes and differences across firms? (ii) How does the nature and direction of innovation (measured by the focus of patents) differ depending on the location of OEMs (including their R&D and subsidiaries) and suppliers? (iii) How does internationalization of manufacturing and R&D of OEMs and suppliers affect innovation in the wind GVC? The investigators will use mixed-method techniques to conduct this research, using a unique database of 12 major OEMs and their relationships with 470 suppliers (2006 to 2014). The preliminary database developed by the investigators includes firm-level information on the type of component, the locations of firms, etc. The investigators will significantly develop this database by adding new information on firms, public policies, and technology, and by conducting interviews to understand outcomes of internationalization. The analysis will employ a new methodology to characterize patents, social networks to depict the GVC, econometric techniques to determine the relationship between manufacturing shifts and patenting practices, and comparative case studies. Intellectual merit: The study of the impacts of manufacturing shifts on technology innovation will test emerging theories in a new sector (wind energy) that is strongly shaped by public policy interventions, while adding an important focus on components and supplier firms. The empirical and theoretical analysis, including the development of a methodology for studying drivers of manufacturing and R&D location decisions and their impacts, will be designed to apply to other industries. Comparative case studies and discussions on OEMs and on countries will further contribute to the understanding of the relationship between trade, energy policy, technology innovation, and local industry development in globally distributed manufacturing industries. Broader impacts: This research can have substantial impacts on public policy and on society. For policymakers in high-income economies (e.g., US or UK) interested in domestic manufacturing and employment generation in modern industries, this research will inform on the design of policies that spur local manufacturing and economic competitiveness with a granular understanding of the linkages along GVC. For policymakers in emerging economies interested in new industries, this research can provide insights on leveraging GVCs for local technology and capacity development in an industry greatly relevant for balancing economic growth with environment and climate targets. For society, this research can elucidate the ways in which manufacturing shifts affect the ability of technological innovation to meet climate and environmental challenges, thus supporting design of policies to meet societal goals.

Humankind is on the brink of significant climate change and material resource shortages. We have reached the limits of our traditional 'take-make-dispose' linear economic models in which materials are extracted from the earth to create products which are discarded at the end of their useful lives. To achieve sustainability with our planet we must rethink the way we consume and use resources and seek to decouple economic growth from primary resource consumption and the associated environmental emissions. Circular economy and the widespread deployment of green energy technologies are essential to achieve this. Even renewable energy technologies have an environmental impact associated with production and disposal at end-of-life, and we must seek to minimise these impacts and maximise product take back for reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recycling once these technologies have ceased to be of use. To achieve this requires lifecycle optimisation, which takes account of product design and development of end-of-life processes. Printable photovoltaics (PPV) are a promising green energy technology in their infancy, which makes this the perfect time to carry out this research. Now is the time to develop processes and product designs which enable effective end-of-life treatment for efficient recovery of materials and components with which to manufacture new products, to drive down cost and environmental impacts of these emerging technologies, increasing the productivity of finite resources available to us. This project develops the eco-design of PPV informed by advanced characterisation and engagement with industrial partners and stakeholders at all stages of PV product lifecycles. This combined novel multidisciplinary approach to technical development of emerging technologies, which engages key industry partners and stakeholders in the value chain; and the development of methods, tools and knowledge required for lifecycle optimisation, can hasten commercialisation of PPV technology and accelerate transition towards circular economy for the greater benefit of the economy, environment and society.

Climate change and the 'energy trilemma' (sustainability, security, equity) are global challenges that effect us all, but most of all, the populations of developing countries. India in particular has a currently unsustainable energy system that causes extreme pollution, is unreliable and unaffordable for many average people. the Indian Government is working incredibly hard to address these challenges and has set an ambitious target to generate 57% of India's energy from renewables by 2027. This project aims to contribute to these target by developing a solar energy product that is low-cost to manufacture in terms of set up costs, materials and energy consumption. The project will use well understood printing processes to scale-up recent advances in perovskite photovoltaic (PV) research to produce prototype, building integrated solar energy products tested to industry standards. Working in collaboration with a leading UK company of building integrated photovoltaics and an Indian cleantech finance firm, the project will transfer the innovation to the context of India where it can be locally manufactured and deployed in accordance with the Indian Government initiative of 'Make in India'. It is the goal of the project to create one or more new ventures in India to complete the local supply-chain required to successfully bring the product to market, creating jobs and economic growth in the region.

Covid-19 has shown that global wind supply chains are vulnerable to significant disruption. This is particularly relevant to the supply of critical raw materials, such as rare-earth magnets, which are used in multi-MW wind turbines. The current crisis has highlighted the need for the UK to develop its own wind energy supply chain and UK-based key component production. In addition, the UK government has made its low carbon ambitions very clear. It plans to deploy 40GW of offshore wind by 2030 and to be carbon-zero by 2050\. These goals have certainly become much harder to achieve as a result of the international disruption caused by Covid-19\. GreenSpur Wind, a 100% subsidiary of Time To Act Limited, has invented and patented a new and highly innovative Permanent Magnet Generator (PMG), which can form part of the UK's response to the problems caused by Covid-19\. The Company's PMG substitutes scarce and expensive rare earth magnets (£45/kg) for cheap and highly abundant ferrite magnets (£1/kg). The global wind turbine market requires large rare-earth magnet volumes, which are sourced almost exclusively from China (\>80%). In addition, supply chain shortages are forecast from the mid-2020s onwards (Roskill). GreenSpur's innovation will enable its UK based engineering and manufacturing partners to help the UK wind sector reduce and very possibly eliminate it heightened exposure to a risky and volatile global supply chain. GreenSpur's long-term vision is to stimulate the development of the UK's wind energy supply chain and manufacturing network so that new multi-MW generators can be built in the UK to meet the country's future needs. This project will build on the three successful machines built by GreenSpur, with the most recent a 250kW generator tested at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult in Blyth (August 2019). This testing proved the accuracy of the Company's computer models, giving strong confidence they can be used to design, rare-earth free, multi-MW generator configurations. This project will focus on improving GreenSpur's modelling tools and feed into a feasibility study for the design of a multi-MW generator for the UK onshore wind turbine market. This will support commercial conversations with potential co-development partners enabling GreenSpur to submit a strong grant application into the future Driving the Electric Revolution challenge funding call. Market analysis activities undertaken during the project identified the Offshore Wind Sector Deal (OWSD) as a key medium to long term driver. The OWSD is a Sector Deal between the UK Government and the offshore wind industry. It requires developers to deliver 60% UK content in offshore turbines by 2030. In October 2020, the Government announced that it intends to deploy an additional 30GW of offshore wind by 2030, which equates to a CAPEX value of £45bn. At present turbines can only be purchased from 3 major European OEMs. Leveraging the OWSD effectively would see 60% of new offshore wind turbines spent within a growing and high-value UK wind supply chain. This would equate to at least £3bn GVA per annum to the UK economy from 2030 onwards. The project was awarded Extension for Impact funding, which will be used to secure expert market communications consultancy. The objective of this additional work will be to develop market engagement strategies based around the OWSD and its related UK supply chain obligations. Strategies will be developed to engage directly with: • Offshore wind developers, being the organisations most directly impacted by the OWSD. • UK generator assembly partners, to present the business case to develop GreenSpur’s game-changing generator technology, using the OWSD’s UK supply chain obligations as a key market driver. • Wind turbine OEMs, to highlight the development of a new and innovative technology that will be supported by a credible and growing UK supply chain, in compliance with OWSD objectives. By conducting this additional work, GreenSpur will de-risk its commercial strategy and significantly improve its long-term chances of success.

The gearbox is one of the most expensive components of a wind turbine. However, the average lifetime of a gearbox is considerably shorter in comparison to the lifetime of the overall wind turbine. Therefore, this project aims to develop the theory for explaining the modes by which wind turbine gearboxes fail, and how to design gearboxes to better deal with these modes of failure. This will include investigating the means of detecting the onset of faults in the gearbox, the development of analytical models to simulate the dynamic behaviour of the gearbox, and experimental testing to support the developed theory.

Investigating the fluid dynamics and heat transfer aspect of the ultra-high temperature thermal energy storage technology being developed by Dr Adam Robinson in the Institute of Energy Systems at the University of Edinburgh. I'd be designing and evaluating the use of heat pumps to charge the storage core and to recirculate waste heat to maintain the core temperature. I'd also be investigating if using blade cooling in the heat pump results in acceptably low thermodynamic losses, and more generally investigating the aerodynamic considerations and heat transfer in the heat exchangers. I'd be designing a valve to switch between using hot combustion products in the power generating gas turbine, and nitrogen heated from the storage core. I'd also be investigating the reheat system used in the power generating gas turbine. The work would involve writing computer code to take account of the additional effects of heat transfer and structural considerations in computational fluid dynamic simulations. Mathematical models of the various system components would be developed and compared with experimental data obtained from a scaled down test rig of the thermal energy store. It would also be desirable to develop a numerical model of the complete system in order to perform transient analyses.