The vision of the proposed research is to develop activated carbon adsorbents and system models to improve the efficiency, flexibility and operability of IGCC processes . Novel activated carbon (AC) adsorbents prepared from resin precursors have the ability to be tailored to control both their CO2 adsorption capacity and isotherm shape. As a result, they offer significant advantages over solvent-based systems for the pre-combustion capture of CO2 in integrated combined cycle gasification (IGCC) processes in terms of cost and flexibility. The research will focus on gaining a fundamental understanding of how the porosity and surface functionality of resin-derived carbons, both in bead and monolith forms, controls their CO2 adsorption under actual process conditions in the presence of moisture and other gases. It is likely to achieve high CO2 removals in IGCC, more than one bed will be needed operating at different pressures. As a result adsorbents displaying high uptakes at low partial pressures (<5 bar) of CO2 will also be investigated. Indeed adsorbents displaying high uptakes at low partial pressures will also find applications in post-combustion capture and selectively removing CO2 from blast furnace gas during iron making. In parallel, the project will also consider how the unique performance of the AC sorbents for CO2 capture will improve the operability of IGCC power plants. Comparisons of emissions, resource requirements and costs with varying levels on CO2 removal via adsorption will be made on a systematic basis allowing different design options and control strategies to be devised, in order to minimise the effects of CO2 capture upon the overall process efficiency. In the research programme, the results from the first theme on the efficacy of the various ACs will be used as the design basis in the second theme on modelling the performance of IGCC plants. The proposal brings the balanced expertise together from five academic institutes to increase our understanding of AC adsorbents for pre-combustion capture and how they will improve the operability and flexibility of IGCC plants. The internationally recognized capability for CO2 adsorbents and power plant control at Nottingham and Birmingham and the complementary stengths of the Institute Coal Chemistry (ICC) and Tsinghau Univeristy make it logical for the partners to combine their strengths to address more effective capture of CO2 in IGCC and the implications of this on overall plant operation. Regarding the Chinese partners, Tsinghua have studied the IGCC process for over 10 years and they have developed the first complete simplified IGCC dynamical mathematical model and simulation program). ICC CAS have been involved in may aspects of gasification and are already working with the UoN on active carbons for post-combustion capture (ICUK award). In relation to the Call, this proposal addresses both:(i) New technologies based on material advances(ii) Modelling and simulation and of capture plants employing the advanced materials

Hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels have an essential role in the net zero transition by providing connectivity and flexibility across the energy system. Despite advancements in the field of hydrogen research both in the physical sciences and engineering, significant barriers remain to the scalable adoption of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuel technologies, and energy services, into the UK's local and national whole system infrastructure policy. These are technical barriers, organisational barriers, regulatory and societal barriers, and financial barriers. The vision as Co-ordinator of the Centre for Systems Integration of Hydrogen and Alternative Fuels (CSI-HALF) is to deliver a fundamental shift in critical analysis of the role of hydrogen in the context of the overall energy landscape, through the creation of robust tools which are investment-oriented in their analysis. A Whole Systems and Energy Systems Integration approach is needed here, in order to better understand the interconnected and interdependent nature of complex energy systems from a technical, social, environmental and economic perspective. This 6-month proposal is to deliver key stakeholder engagement, to develop a comprehensive, co-created research programme for the Centre. The Centre is led by Prof Sara Walker, currently Director of the EPSRC National Centre for Energy Systems Integration, supported by Prof David Flynn of Heriot Watt University and Prof Jianzhong Wu of Cardiff University. The team have extensive experience of large energy research projects and strong networks of stakeholders across England, Wales and Scotland. They bring to the Centre major hydrogen demonstrators through support from partners involved in InTEGReL in Gateshead, ReFLEX in Orkney, and FLEXIS Demonstration in South Wales for example. This 6-month phase is an engagement exercise. It is our responsibility to engage with the community in a manner which respects and supports their motivations. Our philosophy in undertaking this engagement work is based around principles of inclusion, authenticity and tailoring. We will de-risk the integration of HALF into the UK energy system, through full representation of the hydrogen spectrum with open and integrated analysis of top-down and ground-up perspectives, including representation of the immediate and wider stakeholder group e.g. financial markets. We shall engage with this broad section of stakeholders with the support of experts in citizen and community engagement. These expert partners will enable us to produce the highest possible quality of engagement in the 6-month period. Our initial approaches to key stakeholders have been extremely positive. We have already engaged with, and have support from representatives of: pink, green and blue hydrogen production; hydrogen transportation stakeholders; hydrogen end users; policy makers and community groups; financial and consultation organisations; and key academics. We shall engage to create a vibrant, diverse, and open community that has a deeper understanding of whole systems approaches and the role of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels (HALF) within that. We shall do so in a way which embeds EDI in the approach. We shall do so in a way which is a hybrid of virtual and in-person field work consultation, and develop appropriate digital tools for engagement. This builds on accredited practices and inclusive key performance indicators. The network created as a result of the engagement activity will be consulted on with respect to key research questions for the Centre, to co-create a research programme. Through relationship building, webinars and focus groups, we shall deliver an expertise map for hydrogen integration, an information pack containing the state of the art "commons", and a full proposal with comprehensive research programme which has extensive community buy-in.

Many high-value manufactured components that are made in the UK are used in safety critical structures such as nuclear plants and aircraft engines. Such components must be checked periodically for the presence of flaws and other precursors to the component failing. This is performed at various stages in the lifetime of the component: at the manufacturing stage, periodically while the component is in service, and to assess the component for remanufacturing at the end of its lifetime. Components must be checked non-destructively, which is challenging; normally the component's design is not optimised to maximise the probability of detecting a flaw using non-destructive evaluation (NDE). The Engineering Design Challenge is to bring NDE considerations into the design engineer's virtual design toolbox. This project aims to enable design engineers to optimise the design of a given component such that they maximise their ability thereafter to test this component non-destructively for the presence of any flaws. Thus flaw-detectability will used as an additional design criterion. This will also help in remanufacturing as we will be more able to assess the integrity of used components. In this way we will improve society by having safer aircraft, nuclear plants and oil pipelines, improve the environment by having fewer wasted components and using less energy, and improve the UK economy by developing the UK's expertise in these high value sectors. The most common modality in non-destructive evaluation of these safety critical structures is ultrasound transducer imaging. The Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering (CUE) at the University of Strathclyde has extensive experience in the computer simulation and mathematical modelling of ultrasonic transducers and in their use in NDE. They are ideally placed to develop such a software platform. The University of Strathclyde also hosts the Scottish Institute for Remanufacture (SIR), so the project will utilise the research expertise in this area in conjunction with that of CUE. This project will enable CUE and SIR to form a new alliance with experimental design and tomographic imaging experts from the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh. In the Geosciences, sophisticated imaging methods are used to image the Earth's subsurface, and design theory is developed to optimise imaging array geometries and methods. This combined capability will enable the joint project team to develop a virtual environment where techniques for designing and imaging the internal structures of safety critical components can be assessed and optimised.

Many high-value manufactured components that are made in the UK are used in safety critical structures such as nuclear plants and aircraft engines. Such components must be checked periodically for the presence of flaws and other precursors to the component failing. This is performed at various stages in the lifetime of the component: at the manufacturing stage, periodically while the component is in service, and to assess the component for remanufacturing at the end of its lifetime. Components must be checked non-destructively, which is challenging; normally the component's design is not optimised to maximise the probability of detecting a flaw using non-destructive evaluation (NDE). The Engineering Design Challenge is to bring NDE considerations into the design engineer's virtual design toolbox. This project aims to enable design engineers to optimise the design of a given component such that they maximise their ability thereafter to test this component non-destructively for the presence of any flaws. Thus flaw-detectability will used as an additional design criterion. This will also help in remanufacturing as we will be more able to assess the integrity of used components. In this way we will improve society by having safer aircraft, nuclear plants and oil pipelines, improve the environment by having fewer wasted components and using less energy, and improve the UK economy by developing the UK's expertise in these high value sectors. The most common modality in non-destructive evaluation of these safety critical structures is ultrasound transducer imaging. The Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering (CUE) at the University of Strathclyde has extensive experience in the computer simulation and mathematical modelling of ultrasonic transducers and in their use in NDE. They are ideally placed to develop such a software platform. The University of Strathclyde also hosts the Scottish Institute for Remanufacture (SIR), so the project will utilise the research expertise in this area in conjunction with that of CUE. This project will enable CUE and SIR to form a new alliance with experimental design and tomographic imaging experts from the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh. In the Geosciences, sophisticated imaging methods are used to image the Earth's subsurface, and design theory is developed to optimise imaging array geometries and methods. This combined capability will enable the joint project team to develop a virtual environment where techniques for designing and imaging the internal structures of safety critical components can be assessed and optimised.

To achieve the UK's ambitious target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, it is widely accepted that from ca. 2030 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) needs to be fitted to both coal and natural gas fired power plants. The flue gas characteristics of natural fired gas power plants, mostly operating in a combined cycle of gas turbine and steam turbine (NGCC), differ significantly from those from coal-fired power plants. Comparing to the flue gas of the same size coal-fired power plant, the flue gas of a NGCC power plant contains significantly lower CO2 (3-5 vs. 13-15%) and higher O2 concentrations (12-15 vs. 2-4%) and has ca. 50% higher flow rate, which make the separation of CO2 equally, if not more, challenging. The most mature PCC technology, CO2 amine scrubbing, suffers from well-know problems of high energy penalty, oxidative solvent degradation and corrosion, large capture plant footprint and high rate of water consumption. A new generation of PCC technologies for NGCC power plants which overcome these drawbacks need to developed and demonstrated in the next 10 ~ 20 years in order for their commercialisation from ca. 2030. Solid adsorbents looping technology (SALT) is widely recognised as having the potential to be a viable next generation PCC technology for CO2 capture compared to the state-of-art amine scrubbing, offering potentially significantly improved process efficiency at much reduced energy penalty, lower capital and operational costs and smaller plant footprints. The aim of this project is to overcome the performance barriers for implementing the two types of candidate adsorbent systems developed at Nottingham, namely the supported/immobilised polyamines and potassium-promoted co-precipitated sorbent system, in the solid looping technology specifically for NGCC power plants, which effectively integrates both materials and process development and related fundamental issues underpinning the technology development. The objectives are: 1. To overcome the following major specific challenges: (a) To examine and enhance the oxidative and/or hydrolytic stability of supported/immobilised polyamine adsorbents and hence to identify efficient and cost-effective management strategies for spent materials. (b) To optimise the formulation and preparation of the potassium-promoted co-precipitated sorbents for improved working capacity, reaction kinetics and regeneration behaviour at lower temperatures. (c.) To gain comprehensive understanding of to what degree and how different flue gas conditions, particularly oxygen and moisture, can impact the overall performance of adsorbent materials and related techno-economic performance of a solid looping process. 2. To produce kilogram quantities of the optimum adsorbent materials and then demonstrate their performances over repeated adsorption/desorption cycles and to establish the optimal process thermodynamics in fluidized bed testing. 3. To investigate a novel rejuvenation strategy for oxidised polyethyleneimines involving low temperature hydrogenation. 4. To conduct techno-economic studies to assess the cost advantages of the solids looping technology for NGCC power plants over amine scrubbing based on the improved adsorbent performance and optimised process configuration achieved in the project. The know-how acquired in this project will be of direct benefit to academics, CCS research community, power generation and energy industries, energy policy makers/regulators, environmental organisations and government departments such as DECC. The successful delivery of the proposed project represents a major step forward in the development and demonstration of the novel and cost-effective Solids Adsorbents Looping CO2 capture technology for NGCC power stations.