Rationale and Aims: Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the mitigation strategies with the greatest potential to reduce global CO2 emissions this century. The UK is well placed to implement this technology because of its existing oil and gas infrastructure, and its wealth of geologically suitable storage sites. A draft EU directive on CCS sets out strict conditions for potential storage sites regarding environmental impact assessment and monitoring requirements. However, at present, there is no internationally agreed protocol to quantify the risk that once emplaced, the CO2 will leak back to the surface or pollute groundwater resources. One major obstacle to such a protocol being agreed is the limited understanding of leakage mechanisms that might occur within the sealing sequences located above the storage reservoir. By analogy, similar mechanisms that are classically invoked for leakage from oil and gas accumulations might also be expected to apply to CO2 leakage. These comprise two end members: membrane or capillary leakage and hydraulic leakage. In addition, it has recently been recognised that the sealing sequences above a reservoir might be compromised by seal bypass systems that allow large fluid fluxes to bypass the pore or fracture networks. Identification of such bypass systems is thus a key requirement for any seal risking protocol, along with physical property characterisation of the sealing lithologies themselves. Bypass systems can be identified above any potential storage sites using 3D seismic data, but are limited by the spatial resolution of the seismic method. One possible novel approach to the identification of seal bypass, is by identification of seismic amplitude anomalies that can be shown to be associated with methane in the pore space of layers within the sealing sequence. By defining the spatial distribution of these methane anomalies, it would be possible to model the likeliest flow routes taking the methane through the seal, and hence define the leakage pathways for the vertically migrating methane. In this way, the spatial analysis of methane anomalies could act as a tracer for potential CO2 leakage, and so help define the risk of leakage. The aims of this PhD research are to develop workflows and methodologies of using 3D seismic data to track potential leakage routes of CO2 through likely sealing lithologies. The main thrust of this research will be to quantify the leakage flux of methane via contrasting leakage routes to yield a relative risk-based ranking of bypass systems and other leakage mechanisms for a range of potential storage sites. The hypothesis to be tested is that seal bypass systems can be uniquely identified by their impact on methane leakage. By placing this geospatial analysis of the leakage pathways in a context of the geological history, standard risk analysis techniques used by the petroleum industry can then be applied to risk of seal failure and leakage for CO2. The development of a workflow for evidence-based risk analysis of seal failure will be generic, and should ultimately be applied more widely to the global problem of assessing the viability of CO2 storage sites. The primary method will be 3D seismic interpretation and geospatial analysis of seal bypass systems and methane-related seismic anomalies above potential CO2 storage sites. Workstation interpretation and visualisation facilities in the Royal Society/Wolfson Laboratory for CCS in Cardiff and in Statoil's CCS Research Laboratory in Trondheim will be available. Methane-related seismic anomalies will be identified through rock physics modelling (Hampson-Russell) and wireline log calibration in petroleum boreholes using standard petrophysical interpretation software in Trondheim (TerraLog). The project will mainly exploit Statoil's comprehensive seismic/well database in the North Sea, one of the primary targets for shallow CCS in Europe, and where Statoil has pioneered CCS in the Sleipner Project.

The proposed research concerns the description of extreme free-surface flows with applications in both deep water offshore and the shallow water coastal locations. The work will involve the development of a new numerical model appropriate to the description of large surface water waves and their interaction with both fixed structures and floating vessels. The key feature linking these flows will be the occurrence of wave breaking; involving the break-up of the water surface, the entrainment of air and the rapid development of areas of highly turbulent flow. From a practical perspective such flows are extremely important because they are associated with the highest (limiting) water surface elevations, the largest water particle velocities and the maximum applied fluid loads. As a result, they are directly relevant to the design of all manner of marine structures and vessels.In order to simulate such flows, and in so doing provide improved physical understanding, the new numerical model will combine the advantages of two very different modelling procedures: a Boundary Element Method applied before the onset of wave breaking and Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics applied to the breaking and post-breaking fluid flow. By combining these procedures the proposed method will seek to create a robust and accurate model capable of describing a wide range of free-surface flows; particular attention being paid to those aspects of wave-structure and wave-vessel interactions that are critical for design and cannot be described by existing solution procedures.The model predictions will be validated against new laboratory observations. This will involve the use of scaled physical model tests and will consider a wide range of practically important fluid flows including:(i) Breaking waves, including both large-scale over-turning and spilling waves;(ii) Highly nonlinear effects in wave-structure interaction, including high-frequency wave scattering, vertical jetting where fluid is projected upwards to very high elevations creating wave-in-deck loads, and wave slamming on both vertical columns and the deck structure;(iii) Wave-vessel interactions, particularly the occurrence of green water inundation and large impact forces.In tackling these problems, the combined experimental and numerical studies will seek to provide new physical understanding of when and why these events occur, to assess their practical implications and to identify how they can best be modelled in engineering practice.The proposed work is relevant to a wide range of problems in fluid mechanics, with particular application to the effective design and safe operation of marine structures. Direct support from three key industrial practitioners is incorporated within the proposal. The project will also be relevant to the renewable energy industry. With interest in locating offshore wind farms in areas of high wind and therefore large wave activity, such structures are very susceptible to large-scale wave breaking and the associated impact forces. The shipping industry will also benefit from this project: the new model providing information to improve the design and/or safe operation of vessels to both increase survivability and, in the case of oil tankers, limit the potential for large-scale environmental impact and damage. Finally, the work also has a truly multi-disciplinary contribution, beyond the coastal/offshore/navel architecture boundaries, in the sense that the break-up of the water surface (specifically the entrainment of air) has implications for air-sea interactions in general, and mass exchange (CO2 absorption) in particular. Such issues are of fundamental importance to oceanographers studying the transfer processes at the ocean surface and contribute a key element to climate change modelling.

The offshore wind sector has experienced rapid growth in recent years, with new turbine technologies, increased sizes and construction locations further from the shore in deeper waters than ever before. A critical challenge for future developments is the lack of knowledge surrounding how to design foundations to support these turbines, with the safety, life-span, cost and environmental implications coming increasingly into question. To maintain Europe’s stance as a world-leader in offshore wind, Foundations foR Offshore wiNd TurbInES (FRONTIErS) DN has been designed to bring together research intensive universities and major industry stakeholders to train the next generation of graduates with the appropriate skills to tackle the emerging issues presenting as a barrier to continued development of the sector. 11 talented Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will undergo training via individual guided research projects, network-wide discipline-specific and transferrable training events, and local training at each host, over a 36-month PhD programme. DCs will receive training in innovation, communication, commercialisation and entrepreneurship as well as undertaking specific modules in business development to arm them with the requisite all-round skills to excel in academic or industry careers. A tailored dissemination strategy will govern outputs and ensure that the research reaches wider audiences, both scientific and public, through a variety of media. The secondment strategy is designed to expose DCs to both academic and industry environments to foster an appreciation for the requirements of each sector and to enable research translation. Where a DC’s research makes an appropriate contribution to its field of science, the candidate will be awarded a doctorate degree from one of four world-leading academic institutions partaking in the programme. FRONTIErS will create the next generation of high-skilled professionals, who will be in high-demand in this expanding sector.

The year 2011 recorded the highest ever global consumption of energy, estimated at more than 12 billion tonnes of oil equivalent. Because of this, and despite increasingly widespread deployment of renewable energy generation, annual global emissions of greenhouse gases are continuing to rise, underpinned by increasing consumption of fossil fuels. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is currently the only available technology that can significantly reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere from fossil fuel power stations and other industrial facilities such as oil refineries, steel works, cement factories and chemical plants. However, achieving meaningful emissions reduction requires wide deployment of large scale CCS and will involve long term storage of very large volumes of CO2 in the subsurface. Ultimately, if CCS were to be rolled out globally, volumes of injected carbon dioxide could become comparable, on an annual basis, to world hydrocarbon production. The most likely sites for CO2 storage are depleted oil and gas fields or saline aquifers. Understanding and monitoring geomechanical processes within different types of storage site is crucial for site selection, for achieving long term security of storage and for instilling wider confidence in the safety and effectiveness of CCS. In many cases depleted hydrocarbon fields have experienced strong pressure decrease during production which may have affected the integrity of the caprock seal; furthermore, CO2 injection into saline aquifers will displace large volumes of groundwater (brine). In all cases, as injection proceeds and reservoir pressures increase, maintaining the geomechanical stability of the storage reservoir will be of great importance. Understanding and managing these subsurface processes is key to minimising any risk that CO2 storage could result in unexpected effects such as induced earthquakes or damage to caprock seal integrity. Experience from existing large-scale CO2 injection sites shows that monitoring tools such as time-lapse 3D seismic, micro-seismic monitoring and satellite interferometry have the potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of reservoir processes, including fine-scale flow of CO2, fluid pressure changes, induced seismic activity and ground displacements. The DiSECCS project will bring together monitoring datasets from the world's three industrial scale CO2 storage sites at Sleipner (offshore Norway), Snohvit (offshore Norway) and In Salah (Algeria) to develop and test advanced and innovative monitoring tools and methods for the measurement and characterisation of pressure increase, CO2 migration and fluid saturation changes and geomechanical response. A key element of the research will be to identify those storage reservoir types that will be suitable for large-scale CO2 storage without unwanted geomechanical effects, and to develop monitoring tools and strategies to ensure safe and effective storage site performance. In addition, our research will explore public attitudes to CO2 storage. We will consider what insights may be drawn from previous proposed CCS schemes involving onshore storage and other activities that have aroused similar concerns (such as earthquakes associated with shale gas fracking near to Blackpool) and how this experience can inform proposed large-scale offshore storage operations in the future. In the past, public opposition to some onshore storage proposals has led to project delays and cancellation, for example, in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany, and research has identified storage as the stage in the CCS chain that has most potential for concern to members of the lay public. Developing an improved understanding of potential societal responses to CO2 storage and monitoring is crucial for establishing a sustainable and successful CCS strategy; this research will contribute to this through a combination of case study analysis and participatory research with lay citizens.

HyCoFlex is aiming at the development of a retrofitable decarbonisation package for cogeneration of power and industrial heat with 100%-fired gas turbines. The solution will be integrated and fully demonstrated at an industrial site in Saillat-sur-Vienne in France. HyCoFlex will leverage on and further advance the infrastructure of a power-to-hydrogen-to-power industrial scale plant which was developed and demonstrated within the HYFLEXPOWER project. The project will develop operational flexibility capabilities and protocols to satisfy the typical operating profiles experienced by industrial cogeneration plants. By doing so, HyCoFlex will elaborate credible pathways for upscaling and replicating the retrofit package, ultimately accelerating the achievement of industrial and energy sector decarbonisation. In order to meet the global objective, within the HyCoFlex project, the HYFLEXPOWER plant concept and infrastructure will be implemented for 100% H2-fuelled cogeneration. In the framework of the project a Siemens Energy SGT-400 gas turbine will be upgraded with an advanced dry low-emission (DLE) H2 combustion system to operate with different natural gas / H2 fuel mixtures. The retrofitted demonstrator plant will be validated for flexible operation under various natural gas/hydrogen mixtures and loads, while aiming at overcoming state-of-the-art efficiencies with decreased NOx emissions. Finally, HyCoFlex will explore pathways for upscaling and commercialization of decarbonised power generation from gas turbines within a circular-economy framework.