Research interests

Formulation Engineering and Particle Technology

Pharmaceutical Application and Multiphase Modelling

Multiscale Simulation and Data Analytics

Smart Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence

• Polymer Based Solar Cells
• Experimental techniques to characterise nano-scale phase separation in polymers
• Thin film toxic gas sensors
• Electrical properties of nano-structured systems

• Nanoswimmers
• Understanding Spin-Coating
• Polymer Vesicle Formation
• Phase separation in polymer blends

Research interests

• Sewer process modelling
• Hydrogen sulphide induced corrosion
• Microbial ecology in urban water systems
• Synthetic biology
• Odour problems

Our research is concerned with sustainable catalytic engineering. Key areas of current focus include:

- the application of waste or low-value co-products in catalysis. For example current projects are examining carbon dioxide as a chemical feedstock; the valorisation of glycerol; the use of food and agricultural waste (e.g. brewers spent grain) as a raw material; and biochar derived carbons as active catalytic materials

- petrochemical processing. Dehydrogenation, alylation, cracking and methanol-to-hydrocrabon reactions are all currently being investigated in my research group.

- catalyst deactivation and activation through coking. Coke deposition is ubiquitous in catalysis and is normally assocaited with deactivation. However in some cases coke can enhance catalytic performance and we are seeking to understand and exploit this phenomenon. 

- innovative characterisation techniques. We work with colleagues to apply novel techniques to the field of catalysis, e.g. optical tweezers.

Research interests

Fundamentally the research of the Separations and Nuclear Chemical Engineering Research (SNUCER) group in CBE is focused on the fundamental interaction of species at an interface that promote a preferential partitioning of the species of interest. This research can be applied to the research fields below;

• Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing
• Solvent extraction and ion exchange
• Solid phase extraction
• Novel separation processes
• Ionic liquids in separation processes
• Supercritical fluids in separation processes
• Actinide speciation
• Precious metals recovery
• Metal removal and waste processing
• Waste metal recycling
• Water treatment
• Environmental remediation

The research that we carry out is the selective recovery of targeted metal ions from waste matrices. These wastes can be from a multitude of energy producing as well as manufacturing industries with the inclusion of legacy waste sites and abandoned mines. The work we do cross cuts not only the energy sector but environmental sustainability regarding resources and water quality. 

Research in the group undertakes the synthesis of bespoke nanomaterials using biologically inspired green routes.

The group aims to demonstrate potential of green methods for nanomaterials synthesis by realisation of their real-life applications.  Current projects in his group are focussed on developing application of     green nanomaterials in four distinct sectors:   

• carbon capture,
• environmental remediation
• catalysts and biocatalysts
• biomedical applications.

Technologies allowing scaled-up continuous manufacturing of these novel materials are also being developed.

Focus is on increasing technology readiness level (TRL) for new developments and delivering technologies that are ready for commercialisation.

@GreenNanoRes

Research interests

My research interests are diverse within this constantly growing area, ranging from mechanisms of granulation to particle breakage and particle–wall interaction studies. My research centres mainly on understanding mechanisms in granule formation, use and break up. The overall aim is to apply a scientific understanding of the process at different length scales to improve the final granule quality, hence enabling new, novel industrial applications and improvements in mechanical granule properties.

• New materials for carbon dioxide capture
• Catalysts for carbon dioxide utilisation (CDU)
• Absorber and reactor intensification for CDU
• Process design for energy and economically efficient CDU
• Life Cycle Assessment in CDU
• CDU Policy and Public Engagement
• Snowsports Tribology

Expertise:

Research areas:   Process and Energy Systems Engineering

Technical tools:    Process Modeling/Simulation, Control and Optimization (with new efforts in Molecular simulation)

Application areas:   Power Plants, CO₂ Capture, CO₂ Transport, CO₂ Utilisation, Energy Storage, Bio-Energy

Research Funding and Projects:

Since 2007, I am involved in projects worth around £12.9 million [7 grants as PIs (worth £2.1 million) and 10 grants as CIs (worth £10.8 million)], with net research funding around £2,597 k spent by my own group.

I am leading one UK EPSRC funded Consortium project on intensified carbon capture worth £1.27 million with 10 investigators and 5 PDRFs from 4 universities from Oct. 2014 to Mar. 2018.

I am Project Coordinator of EU IRSES project, leading 6 EU/China partners (with 40 research staff) from Jan. 2014 to Dec. 2017 using process systems engineering techniques for power plants and CCS.

Impact

One journal paper (Lazic et al., 2013) is awarded SAGE Best Paper Prize 2014 (http://hulluniscience.com/2015/05/20/chemical-engineering-professor-receives-sage-best-paper-award/) & also Ludwig Mond Prize 2014 by IMechE to recognize our contributions to process industry (http://hulluniscience.com/2015/08/21/humber-co2-transport-pipeline-network-design-wins-top-award/)

Another journal paper (Wang et al. 2011) is the most cited paper in Chem. Eng. Res. and Des. since 2010 (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/chemical-engineering-research-and-design/most-cited-articles/).

In collaboration with RWE npower, Alstom Power, BF2RA, COSTAIN, National Grid, PSE Ltd, Carbon Clean Solutions (CCS) Ltd, E.ON UK and Solutia UK for research.

• Hydrogen energy systems.
• Fast fire spread phenomena in buildings and underground structures and tunnel fires
• Dynamics of fires and explosions
• Combustion and heat transfer in industrial furnaces
• Hazard analysis and risk assessment of process industry

• Energy efficient generation of microbubbles and their applications (particularly biofuels and bioreactors)
• Plasma microreactors, especially low power consumption generation of ozone
• Fluid dynamics of helical turbulence and mixing
• Thin film dynamics and microrheometry
• Computational modelling with inverse methods