Evaluation of properties of wood pellets for Bioenergy and Carbon Capture and Storage Application

About the Project

The current state of the art for utilisation of wood pellets is co-firing and the co-generation of biomass combustion products. The safe and effective storage, transportation and processing of wood pellets is then highly important for bioenergy applications. The integrity of the quality of pellets during handling is key in ensuring that pellets do not degrade physically in the chain of manufacturing till feeding into a pulverised fuel burner. This reduces transport costs and minimises the risk of fires and dust explosions.

There are limited studies that address the chemical characterisation of biomass for the residential sector only. Also, there are few studies available in the literature that focuses on both chemical and physical and mechanical properties of commercially produced biomass pellets used in the power sector. This project aims to conduct a systematic study on the characterisation of biomass wood pellets used as the feedstock in power plants in the UK such as Drax power station. The study will include:

• Searching for available experimental data on the characterisation of both physical and chemical properties of pellets
• Explore experimental techniques including durability, quasi-static and dynamic impact tests for strength characterisation of the pellets
• Measure rate of energy release and gas emission such as CO2 from at least 10 different wood pellets sources used in the UK
• Find a potential correlation between both liberated energy and the emission with the pellet properties using machine learning and AI or other data analysis techniques Applications and expressions of interest are invited from prospective researchers with a good background of chemical or mechanical engineering or a closely related field.

How to apply

Formal applications can be submitted via the University of Bradford web site; applicants will need to register an account, select 'Postgraduate Research' as the course and then use the keywords 'chemical engineering'. Applicants should then specify the project title in the 'Research Proposal' section.

About the University of Bradford

Bradford is a research-active University supporting the highest-quality research. We excel in applying our research to benefit our stakeholders by working with employers and organisations world-wide across the private, public, voluntary and community sectors and actively encourage and support our postgraduate researchers to engage in research and business development activities.

Funding Notes

This is a self-funded PhD project; applicants will be expected to pay their own fees or have a suitable source of third-party funding. UK students may be able to apply for a Doctoral Loan from Student Finance for financial support.