Feasibility Studies

Find more information about Feasibility Studies funded through the SUSTAIN Hub

SUSTAIN Second Call for Feasibility Studies - Summer 2022 Funded Projects

Thank you to all those who submitted an application to this Call and to everyone who gave their time to support this activity. We are delighted to announce the following feasibility studies have been funded:

This feasibility project aims to answer the following research question: how to flexibly schedule the electric power system and industrial processes in a steelmaking plant in a smart way which addresses the complexity and uncertainties in the context of the net zero transition of the electricity system? The objective of this project is to develop a digital twin with a mechanism-based model to generate the day-ahead operation schedule of a steelmaking plant and a data-driven model to re-schedule some key electric power devices to tackle the impact of uncertainties, ultimately reducing the electricity costs and emissions at the same time satisfying the steel production requirement. Digital twins, which are virtual replicas of physical objects in the digital place, are systems of advanced sensing, communication, simulation, optimisation and control technologies, and have great potential in facilitating the smart and flexible operation of industrial plants. The proposed approach will be deployed and tested on a digital twin test platform in the laboratory at Cardiff University.

Towards the use of CO2 and heat from steel industry emissions to prepare new/improved photocatalysts for upcycling of plastic waste
Dr Maria Grazia Francesconi - University of Hull
Dr Carolina Font-Palma - University of Hull
Grand Challenge area - Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking

This work focuses on carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) as well as heat waste utilisation via advances of materials chemistry. We propose to use captured CO2 and waste heat to modify the structures of selected materials to generate a family of photocatalysts for the upcycling of plastics. CO2 will be the structure modifying agent and the energy for the solid-gas reaction will be provided by waste heat. This approach addresses the need to decarbonise steelmaking and in doing will generate new environmentally-beneficial materials.

Photocatalysis is a process that uses semiconductors (photocatalysts) to capture light to initiate and drive reactions that initiates and drives reactions. One current main application of photocatalysis is purification of water by breaking large molecules of pollutants. Photocatalytic upcycling of plastics is an emerging technology with potential to convert plastic waste into value-added products sustainably.

We trialled MO3 (M = Mo, W, Re), reported as photocatalysts potentially activated by visible light,  in the upcycling of plastic materials with incoherent results. MO3 materials can show different polymorphs; however, the crystal structure, normally a factor, does not have a major influence on the photocatalytic properties. Instead, the oxygen anions are the main parameters for the photocatalytic efficiency and researchers are using the oxide stoichiometry to study the influence of photocatalytic activities. Our approach is radically different from previous methods. The reaction of the MO3 oxides with CO2 is expected to lead to oxide-carbonates of different carbonate stoichiometries, depending on parameters such as time, temperature and gas flow. The formation of oxide-carbonates is caused by the CO2 molecule “settling” in the structure and involving selected oxide anions in new bonds to form carbonates anions, (CO3)2-. This will impose changes of the environment for these oxide anions and influence the photocatalytic properties.

SUSTAIN First Call for Feasibility Studies - Summer 2020 Funded Projects

Thank you to all those who submitted an application to this Call and to everyone who gave their time to support this activity. We are delighted to announce the following feasibility studies have been funded:

Ultra-High Temperature Reliable Electronics Development (UHTRED)
Dr Alton Horsfall and Dr Andrew Gallant – University of Durham
Grand Challenge area – Smart Steel Processing

In the steel industry, operating temperatures above 400 °C are commonplace and the monitoring of materials and systems in these conditions is essential for quality control, process improvement and safety. However, such temperatures are beyond the current state-of-the-art operating conditions for the microelectronic systems used for wireless sensor nodes. The problem is that the ubiquitous semiconductor-based transistor is fundamentally unsuitable for use in extreme temperature environments and a paradigm shift in the technology is required.

This 6 month feasibility study aims to provide the underpinning know-how required to initiate such a shift through the exploration of materials, designs and circuit models based around microscale vacuum channel transistors. The target is to produce device and circuit designs which are capable of operating over a wide temperature range from 25 to 1000 °C; and to identify a pathway for operation at higher temperatures which may be comparable to those found in the blast furnace and teeming ladles.

Techno-economic Feasibility of Net-Zero Emission Solutions for Metal Heating (THERMOS)
Dr Yukun Hu – University College London
Project Partners: WMG, Air Products, SWERIM
Grand Challenge area – Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking

This feasibility project will demonstrate the potential to significantly improve the UK Steel Industry’s Carbon Footprint through direct changes and augmentation of systems and processes, and is highly aligned with GCRA 1 – Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking. Specifically, THERMOS project will focus on the metal heating process and the proposed sustainable net-zero emission solutions (i.e. H2 fuelled metal heating processes and H2 use in reheat furnaces) are identified as complements to the existing SUSTAIN research activities.

This project will investigate if the UK could therefore introduce carbon-free heating for furnaces at all its rolling mills and thereby drastically reduce its already world-leading low carbon footprint from cradle to gate. Investing in the technological transition requires significant scientific consideration of challenges, prioritisation, risks and uncertainties. In THERMOS, to assess the techno-economic feasibility, a furnace ‘digital twin’ will be used to demonstrate the proposed net-zero emission solutions. The digital twin will be based on zonal modelling of radiative heat transfer, and analyses combustion behaviours (e.g. ignition and NOx formation) and scale formation with the aid of computational fluid dynamics and reaction kinetics models to provide new insights into the transition pathway of reheating furnaces that might be systemic weaknesses in a green steel economy.

Drop-tube Furnace to Investigate Novel Reductants for the Decarbonisation of Ironmaking
Dr Julian Steer – Cardiff University
Project Partners: Tata Steel
Grand Challenge area – Carbon Neutral Iron and Steelmaking

The aim of this project is to carry out collaborative research between Cardiff and Swansea Universities, with TATA Steel UK and N+P recycling, to test the feasibility of using a non-recyclable carbonaceous waste (Subcoal®) as a novel alternative reductant material for potential injection in a blast furnace.

Subcoal®, is a non-recyclable paper and plastics product high in carbon, supplied by N&P Recycling as compressed pellets. Our aim is to compare the Subcoal reactivity (as a non-fossil fuel alternative) to coal-based reductants. If successful, this will reduce the reliance on mined coal; reduce the landfilling of non-recyclable paper and plastic; and demonstrate the potential to significantly improve the UK steel industry’s carbon emissions footprint as 50% of the Subcoal® carbon is derived from biomass.

This would be a novel route to ‘waste’ recycling and reuse which is not carried out in the UK and fits well with current moves towards a circular economy. It would benefit society, creating a new supply chain with new jobs, reducing raw material costs and CO2 emissions improving the sustainability of essential blast furnace ironmaking in the UK.