In-situ Chemical Measurement and Imaging Diagnostics for Energy Process Engineering
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Engineering
Abstract
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.
Organisations
- University of Edinburgh (Lead Research Organisation)
- Beihang University (Collaboration)
- University of Manchester (Collaboration)
- Industrial Tomography Systems (Collaboration)
- DAS Photonics S. L. (Collaboration)
- Optosci Ltd (Collaboration)
- M Squared Lasers Ltd (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE (Collaboration)
- Shell Global Solutions International BV (Collaboration)
- Rolls Royce Group Plc (Collaboration)
- Gooch & Housego (Collaboration)
- Innospec Inc (Collaboration)
- National Institute of Aerospace Technology (Collaboration)
- Tracerco (Collaboration)
- Innospec (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Gooch and Housego (Torquay) Ltd (Project Partner)
- Industrial Tomography Systems (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Rolls-Royce (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- M Squared Lasers (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Shell (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- OptoSci (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Johnson Matthey (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
Publications
Chen Z
(2022)
MMV-Net: A Multiple Measurement Vector Network for Multifrequency Electrical Impedance Tomography.
in IEEE transactions on neural networks and learning systems
Chen Z
(2022)
Mask-Guided Spatial-Temporal Graph Neural Network for Multifrequency Electrical Impedance Tomography
in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Chen Z
(2021)
Hybrid Learning-Based Cell Aggregate Imaging With Miniature Electrical Impedance Tomography
in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Courtney T
(2019)
Hybrid femtosecond/picosecond pure rotational anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy of nitrogen at high pressures (1-70 atm) and temperatures (300-1000 K)
in Applied Physics Letters
Courtney TL
(2019)
Generation of narrowband pulses from chirped broadband pulse frequency mixing.
in Optics letters
Crabb J
(2019)
Laser transmitter for CubeSat-class applications
Ding C
(2019)
Flame/flow dynamics at the piston surface of an IC engine measured by high-speed PLIF and PTV
in Proceedings of the Combustion Institute
Dong Y
(2022)
Magnetic Disturbance Detection for Smartphone-Based Indoor Positioning Systems With Unsupervised Learning
in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Dong Y
(2022)
Error Investigation on Wi-Fi RTT in Commercial Consumer Devices
in Algorithms
| Description | First demonstration of an intensity-calibrated photoacoustic gas detection technique that uses the acoustic signal generated though optical absorption by a gas cell as the normalisation term. This technique has targeted the measurement of SOx levels in desulphurization processes. New methods of TDLAS have been demonstrated, particularly the use of 1f/1f normalisation that allows the use of lower-frequency signals for robust measurement in fast processes systems. Determination of generic optimal beam arrangements for Chemical Species Tomography that tailor the spatial resolution for a given number of beams. Achieved the first dynamic imaging of (a) swirl-flame stabilisation of lean combustion and (b) the onset of combustion instability and lean blow-out. This was done using a Chemical Species Tomography system in collaboration with the group of Prof. Lijin Xu at Beihang University, Beijing, China. We greatly improved the robustness of temperature imaging using Chemical Species Tomography by creating a novel algorithm, which we call Relative Entropy Tomographic RecOnstruction (RETRO). Image retrieval is obtained from jointly reconstructed two-line absorbance distributions. RETRO exhibits excellent robustness against tomographic measurement noise, offering great potential for industrial field applications of CST in very harsh environments. We developed and demonstrated multi-beam CST data acquisition (DAQ) with excellent temporal resolution and greatly reduced cost, using a novel combination of bespoke signal conditioning with commercial embedded processing systems. By underpinning the continuity of effort between the EPSRC FLITES project and the Cleansky CIDAR project, we achieved the first chemcal species imaging in the exhaust plume of a commercial aero gas turbine engine. Femtosecond/picoscond Hybrid Rotational CARS (fs/ps R-CARS) has been shown to be robust up to high pressures (70 bar) and temperatures (1000 K), making it applicable to a wide range of energy engineering processes. This was carried out in collaboration with Sandia National Labs, Livernore, USA. We successfully implemented fs/ps R-CARS to resolve transient thermal boundary layer development for reacting and non-reacting flows, enabling quantification of the transient energy losses through the boundary layer. This has been studied for non-reacting polytropic compression events, flame-wall interaction events, and post-flame exhausting events. We have developed a dual-probe hybrid rotational CARS methodology to measure 1D temperature, pressure, and O2/N2 ratios simultaneously, achieving novelty in several respects. We have applied it to a heated jet impinging onto a wall, resolving single-shot pressure gradients of 0.04 bar/mm, which successfully captures the kinetic energy conversion to pressure (i.e. stagnation pressure field) as a flow impinges onto a surface. A new metering technique for wet gas has been developed to measure gas void fraction and gas mass flow rate and its accuracy was validated in the facility of Spirax Sarco. A novel dual LIDAR retrieval method has been developed, with improved spatial-temporal resolution. This imaging method can retrieve entire wind fields and unlock the potential of complex wind field for efficient energy production. |
| Exploitation Route | Multiple. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Chemicals,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Transport |
| URL | https://cider-project.uk/ |
| Description | A combined experimental and numerical investigation of premixed flame-wall interaction in turbulent boundary layers |
| Amount | £642,701 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/V003283/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2021 |
| End | 01/2025 |
| Description | Diode-pumped Ti:sapphire lasers: a manufacturable platform for precision photonics |
| Amount | £935,451 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/T014288/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2020 |
| End | 07/2023 |
| Description | Energy transfer Processes at gas/wall Interfaces under extreme Conditions |
| Amount | £1,150,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | European Research Council (ERC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 12/2017 |
| End | 11/2022 |
| Description | H2020 CleanSky2 |
| Amount | € 2,007,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | CS2-CFP06-2017-01-785539 |
| Organisation | European Commission H2020 |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 06/2018 |
| End | 12/2020 |
| Description | Intelligent ultrasound hand gesture recognition |
| Amount | £158,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Huawei Technologies Research and Development UK Ltd |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2018 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | Laser Imaging of Turbine Engine Combustion Species (LITECS) |
| Amount | £5,813,733 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/T012595/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2020 |
| End | 08/2024 |
| Description | NSFC |
| Amount | ¥3,657,000 (CNY) |
| Organisation | National Natural Science Foundation of China |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | China |
| Start | 06/2016 |
| End | 05/2021 |
| Description | The feasibility of Measurement System of Two-Phase Flow - Phase II, Fuji Electric, £177,500 |
| Amount | £177,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Fuji Electric |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | Japan |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 06/2021 |
| Description | UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre 2017 (UKCCSRC 2017) |
| Amount | £6,233,759 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/P026214/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2017 |
| End | 03/2022 |
| Description | UK-China Workshop on Advanced Imaging Techniques for Pulmonary Disease, British Council Newton Fund, |
| Amount | £24,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2019 |
| End | 01/2021 |
| Description | Wet steam monitoring for geothermal power generation in Southeast Asia |
| Amount | £6,795 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 12/2021 |
| Description | Beihang |
| Organisation | Beihang University |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Visits to Beijing; hosting of visitors to Edinburgh; presentation of research seminars in Beijing and training in Beijing and Edinburgh; particiation in experiments and in data analysis and in writing journal papers |
| Collaborator Contribution | Mirror image of our contributions |
| Impact | Recruitment of Beihang alumnus to the academic staff in Edinburgh; graduated research students in Beihang after joint supervision; journal papers; ground-breaking study of swirl-stabilised lean combustion using Chemical Species Tomograph |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CIDAR |
| Organisation | DAS Photonics S. L. |
| Country | Spain |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Chemical Spoecies Tomograpohy; Opto-mechanics; Electronics; Image reconstruction |
| Collaborator Contribution | Management; facilities; spectroscopy; electronics |
| Impact | CST system demonstrated to TRL6 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | CIDAR |
| Organisation | National Institute of Aerospace Technology |
| Country | Spain |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Chemical Spoecies Tomograpohy; Opto-mechanics; Electronics; Image reconstruction |
| Collaborator Contribution | Management; facilities; spectroscopy; electronics |
| Impact | CST system demonstrated to TRL6 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | CIDAR |
| Organisation | Optosci Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Chemical Spoecies Tomograpohy; Opto-mechanics; Electronics; Image reconstruction |
| Collaborator Contribution | Management; facilities; spectroscopy; electronics |
| Impact | CST system demonstrated to TRL6 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | CIDAR |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Department | School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Chemical Spoecies Tomograpohy; Opto-mechanics; Electronics; Image reconstruction |
| Collaborator Contribution | Management; facilities; spectroscopy; electronics |
| Impact | CST system demonstrated to TRL6 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | CIDAR |
| Organisation | University of Strathclyde |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Chemical Spoecies Tomograpohy; Opto-mechanics; Electronics; Image reconstruction |
| Collaborator Contribution | Management; facilities; spectroscopy; electronics |
| Impact | CST system demonstrated to TRL6 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | CIDER |
| Organisation | Gooch & Housego |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Recruitment and supervision of five jointly-funded PhD students; Determination of feasibility of imaging automotive fuel additives in-cylinder; Fundamental assessment of automotive engine performance under different fuelling conditions; Continuing FLITES work to extend to the CIDAR consortium funding; Fundamantal spectroscopy methods |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of materials and expertise; Advice on industry standards; Feedback on prospects for practical implementation; Industrial experience for PhD students; |
| Impact | One graduated PhD student; Four PhD studentships underway; Various papers; |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CIDER |
| Organisation | Industrial Tomography Systems |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Recruitment and supervision of five jointly-funded PhD students; Determination of feasibility of imaging automotive fuel additives in-cylinder; Fundamental assessment of automotive engine performance under different fuelling conditions; Continuing FLITES work to extend to the CIDAR consortium funding; Fundamantal spectroscopy methods |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of materials and expertise; Advice on industry standards; Feedback on prospects for practical implementation; Industrial experience for PhD students; |
| Impact | One graduated PhD student; Four PhD studentships underway; Various papers; |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CIDER |
| Organisation | Innospec Inc |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Recruitment and supervision of five jointly-funded PhD students; Determination of feasibility of imaging automotive fuel additives in-cylinder; Fundamental assessment of automotive engine performance under different fuelling conditions; Continuing FLITES work to extend to the CIDAR consortium funding; Fundamantal spectroscopy methods |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of materials and expertise; Advice on industry standards; Feedback on prospects for practical implementation; Industrial experience for PhD students; |
| Impact | One graduated PhD student; Four PhD studentships underway; Various papers; |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CIDER |
| Organisation | M Squared Lasers Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Recruitment and supervision of five jointly-funded PhD students; Determination of feasibility of imaging automotive fuel additives in-cylinder; Fundamental assessment of automotive engine performance under different fuelling conditions; Continuing FLITES work to extend to the CIDAR consortium funding; Fundamantal spectroscopy methods |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of materials and expertise; Advice on industry standards; Feedback on prospects for practical implementation; Industrial experience for PhD students; |
| Impact | One graduated PhD student; Four PhD studentships underway; Various papers; |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CIDER |
| Organisation | Optosci Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Recruitment and supervision of five jointly-funded PhD students; Determination of feasibility of imaging automotive fuel additives in-cylinder; Fundamental assessment of automotive engine performance under different fuelling conditions; Continuing FLITES work to extend to the CIDAR consortium funding; Fundamantal spectroscopy methods |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of materials and expertise; Advice on industry standards; Feedback on prospects for practical implementation; Industrial experience for PhD students; |
| Impact | One graduated PhD student; Four PhD studentships underway; Various papers; |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CIDER |
| Organisation | Rolls Royce Group Plc |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Recruitment and supervision of five jointly-funded PhD students; Determination of feasibility of imaging automotive fuel additives in-cylinder; Fundamental assessment of automotive engine performance under different fuelling conditions; Continuing FLITES work to extend to the CIDAR consortium funding; Fundamantal spectroscopy methods |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of materials and expertise; Advice on industry standards; Feedback on prospects for practical implementation; Industrial experience for PhD students; |
| Impact | One graduated PhD student; Four PhD studentships underway; Various papers; |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CIDER |
| Organisation | Shell Global Solutions International BV |
| Department | Shell Research Ltd |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Recruitment and supervision of five jointly-funded PhD students; Determination of feasibility of imaging automotive fuel additives in-cylinder; Fundamental assessment of automotive engine performance under different fuelling conditions; Continuing FLITES work to extend to the CIDAR consortium funding; Fundamantal spectroscopy methods |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of materials and expertise; Advice on industry standards; Feedback on prospects for practical implementation; Industrial experience for PhD students; |
| Impact | One graduated PhD student; Four PhD studentships underway; Various papers; |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CIDER |
| Organisation | Tracerco |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Recruitment and supervision of five jointly-funded PhD students; Determination of feasibility of imaging automotive fuel additives in-cylinder; Fundamental assessment of automotive engine performance under different fuelling conditions; Continuing FLITES work to extend to the CIDAR consortium funding; Fundamantal spectroscopy methods |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of materials and expertise; Advice on industry standards; Feedback on prospects for practical implementation; Industrial experience for PhD students; |
| Impact | One graduated PhD student; Four PhD studentships underway; Various papers; |
| Start Year | 2016 |