The Energy and Environmental Engineering Research Group (EERG) has a worldwide reputation for its broad range of innovative energy related process research particularly that into combustion, gasification and pyrolysis of wastes, biomass and fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil), fires and explosions, integrated power and waste management systems, high efficiency power generation with a small footprint (using an ultra high temperature heat exchanger), clean hydrogen fuel generation and its safety, combined heat and power (CHP) networks, clean coal technologies, direct CO2 photo-reduction and electro-reduction using semi-conductor nano-particles and photo-voltaics, emission control by flameless combustion, energy utilisation, fuels cells and the associated mathematical modelling. The Group also specialises in several major areas of environmental concern, such as CO2 capture and storage, micro-pollutants and flue gas clean up systems, CFD modelling of thermal processes, diagnostic & instrumentation, fluidic flow control and long distance slurry pumping.
In the field of development of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems for cities, the Group played a key role in developing one of the UK´s first, and still the largest, district heating system with 150MWh currently connected (Sheffield District Heating). This is operated by Sheffield Heat & Power (Veolia Environmental Services), using heat generated by burning organic material in domestic and commercial waste.
Extensive laboratories are available, equipped with air and fuel supplies, flues and diagnostic facilities required for advanced combustion and explosion research. Our department´s field station at Harpur Hill is one of the few university research facilities in the UK where large scale combustion experiments can be performed. The site is fully supplied with all suitable services, together with a comprehensive workshop and 14 laboratories. Our strategy uses both laboratory experiments and dedicated instrumentation installed on full scale industrial plants, integrated with numerical modelling, to produce the enabling information that is needed to implement the new embedded power systems required for future sustainable cities.
SUWIC which is a key University Research Centre within the department, contains the leading international team for thermal treatment of wastes and biomass/biofuels. The Center has a global reputation for fundamental investigations into combustion, gasification and pyrolysis of biomass/wastes and the associated power generation systems. It is also committed to providing education and training in this field.
Please visit SUWIC website (www.sheffield.ac.uk/~SUWIC/) for more information on the Centre´s activities, staff, facilities and extensive publications.