Clean Energy Engineering research projects and impacts

Solar Powered Desiccant Evaporative Cooling Technology using Metal Organic Framework Materials for Reducing Post-Harvest Losses in Nigeria

Innovate-UK African Agriculture Knowledge Transfer Partnership – Contact: Dr R. K. AL-Dadah 

With a population of 223.8million, growth rate of 2.41% and GDP of >$400 billion, Nigeria is the most populous country and has the largest economy in Africa. Post-harvest loss contributes to the country's food insecurity and reduces the income of smallholder farmers and other related businesses. Also, in rural Nigeria, the electrical power distribution network is very limited and suffers from erratic power supply, coupled with expensive cooling systems, this led to the lack of cold chain facilities for storage of perishable crops. Thus, almost half of perishable products like fresh fruits and vegetables are spoiled before reaching the consumers. Reducing this massive postharvest loss is essential for improving food security, national economy and the livelihoods of farmers and rural communities.

This project is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between De Koolar Nigeria Limited and the Federal University of Technology from Nigeria and University of Birmingham (United Kingdom). It aims to develop a novel solar powered, desiccant-evaporative cooling system using advanced Metal Organic Framework adsorbent material with superior water adsorption characteristics for perishable crops cold storage, thus reducing postharvest losses, improving food security and the country economy.

Novel Solar Powered Atmospheric Water Harvesting Technology Using Advanced Metal Organic Framework Adsorbents for Renewable Water Production in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

British Council International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) - Contact: Dr R. K. AL-Dadah 

There is a huge amount of water vapour in the Earth’s atmosphere where it holds six times more fresh water than all rivers combined. There are approximately 3100miles3 of water in the atmosphere, 98% of which are in the form of vapour, and 2% in the form of clouds. Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is a technology that has the potential to revolutionize the way we produce water, it is sustainable, decentralized, and scalable technology.

Compared to other AWH technologies, sorbent-based AWH (SAWH) offers great potential in terms of water production and suitability for various geographical/weather conditions like those of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The SAWHs performance is dominated by the sorbent material’s water adsorption characteristics. Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are new adsorbent materials with exceptionally high porosity, large surface area (~5500m2/g compared to 1000m2/g for mesoporous silica gel), high pore volume, superior water adsorption with uptake of ~1.5kg/kg making them attractive for SAWH applications. Therefore, this project aims to develop a novel, solar driven, compact, low-cost, SAWH technology using advanced MOF material for renewable water production in KSA.

Led by Dr Bruño Fraga, this Cross-Research Council UKRI-funded project will provide strategies and tools to enhance the natural immunity of forests and halt tree epidemics.

Our research combines knowledge on tree immunity with ecology and physics. The research aims to increase forest resilience by proposing combinations of tree species and priming of defence,  bringing together ecological and physical modelling to create a tool – ForestFlow – to predict the spread of fungal spores and design physical barriers to it.

The decisions we make today will determine the forest landscapes of future generations. Fusion Forest will prevent high disease pressures and enhance tree immunity ahead of the occurrence of outbreaks. 

Led by Dr Bruño Fraga, EPSRC-funded BreatHE IN is a micro network + supported by partners including Oxford, Cardiff, Nottingham, UCL, Bath, the UKHSA, Hertfordshire County Council, Siemens, ANSYS, BIOREME and the Met Office.

The Network aims to establish a platform to address the gaps identified by EPSRC and the UK research community in engineering healthier indoor environments. The team will seek how to improve the design, retrofitting and usage of buildings to improve health and wellbeing. BreatHE IN will bring together an interdisciplinary research community, raising awareness on the health impacts of indoor air quality, promoting new ideas, providing guidelines for interventions - with a particular emphasis on vulnerable demographics - and in accelerating technology and knowledge transfer to maximise societal benefit. BreatHE IN will fund research with a focus on healthier indoor environments.

The network will be hosting two in-person Sandpit events, the first of which took place in the School of Engineering on 29 April. The sandpit saw a very high level of interest, with 100 registration and the submission of 25 full proposals for feasibility studies. Four of them will be funded with up to £72k. The Network is also committed to supporting early-career researchers with bursaries to attend events and a mentorship scheme.

AEROSOLS - Air quality and health impact of primary semi-volatile and secondary particles and their abatement

Led by Dr Soheil Zeraati Rezaei (aerosols@contacts.bham.ac.uk)

The EU- and UKRI-funded AEROSOLS project is a timely, ambitious, and interdisciplinary project with aim to define robust and transparent measurement and modelling methodologies to quantify the currently disregarded volatile/semi-volatile (V/S-V) primary and secondary emissions derived from transport, and their associated risks. Furthermore, technological and legislative monitoring/abating mechanisms will be proposed to control these emissions in order to help improve air quality and public health. This will be achieved by:

• quantifying V/S-V emissions formation, abatement, and dynamics within the vehicle system under real-driving-emissions (RDE) testing conditions on roads and in labs utilising innovative instrumentations and methodologies
• characterising secondary aerosol formation and atmospheric evolution mechanisms employing advanced instrumentations (e.g., for particles as small as 1nm), methodologies, and modelling to provide scientific evidence of the precursors’ role
• categorising (‘taxonomising’) and prioritising (assisted by Artificial Intelligence) primary and secondary emissions compounds based on their health impact (by employing in vitro/vivo testing), environmental/social life-cycle-assessment, and risk

Advocacy information will be provided to the stakeholders and legislation/policy makers and proposals will be made for improving the standards/regulations, and consequently the air quality. The support of stakeholders and partners will accelerate the transition to a cleaner and climate-neutral society/economy.

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