Research Group: Water and Environmental Engineering Group

The Group has a wide range of activities across three broad areas:

Water Engineering

- Low head hydropower: New hydropower converters are under development which can use head differences below 2.5 m as a source of renewable energy. Unlike conventional turbine technology, these systems can be cost effective and ecologically acceptable. Two prototypes built and monitored in the EU FP7-funded project Hylow have shown efficiencies from 75-85%. Tests show that the converters can be used successfully in conjunction with fish and sediment passages.

Current work focuses on hydropower in irrigation canals, where the energy of the water is used to pump it onto fields higher than canal level, which cannot be irrigated at the moment, or to generate electricity.

- Environmental fluid mechanics: Research areas include prediction of local scour around bridge piers and offshore structures; flow resistance and sediment transport in geophysical flows; transport and mixing of scalars in turbulent flows; mathematical modelling of open channel morphodynamics; and development of pioneering techniques in experimental fluid mechanics.

- Computational hydraulics: work on the development of numerical models to simulate free-surface flows for urban and coastal flooding, the use and development of numerical models for the study of coastal hydro-morphodynamics, and the application of Machine Learning in computational hydraulics.

To find out more, please visit our Water Engineering website: https://hydro.soton.ac.uk/

Ecohydraulics 
- We bridge the gap between disciplines and conduct innovative research to quantify the potential environmental impacts of water and energy infrastructure in aquatic habitats, focusing primarily on sustainable fisheries management. Our research provides the basic understanding needed to develop effective ecological mitigation and restore aquatic habitats.  

- We utilise hydraulics facilities within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences and larger-scale field studies to quantify the response of fish to hydrodynamic and other environmental stimuli (such as acoustics and light) created by anthropogenic structures and activities. Recent programmes of research have focused on improving the sustainability of hydropower, fish passage and screening at water off-takes (e.g. at power stations or abstraction points), river restoration and species reintroductions.

- Our research has been conducted in the UK, Europe, North and South America and Asia, and funded by the British Council, CEFAS, DEFRA, the Environment Agency, the EU (FP7 and H2020), the Global Challenges Research Fund, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the US Army Corps of Engineers and Native American Tribes, the Swedish hydropower sector, and the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources. 

To find out more, please visit our International Centre for Ecohydraulics Research website: http://www.icer.soton.ac.uk/

Bioenergy and organic resources

- Wastewater treatment: current interests include advanced aerobic granular systems for wastewater treatment and biological nutrient recovery; anaerobic treatment of wastewater at ambient temperatures, using a variety of technologies from expanded beds to membrane systems; new methods for removal of trace pollutants using bio-sorbents; and design and optimisation of micro-algal treatment systems.

- Bioresources and bioenergy:  we have extensive expertise in anaerobic digestion, ranging from microbial aspects to energy balance modelling across a wide variety of systems and substrates.  Key topics in bioenergy include CO2 biomethanisation and microbial fuel cells. Biorefinery technologies are focused on production and extraction of building block chemicals to support the creation of a sustainable circular bioeconomy.

To find out more, please visit our Water Engineering website: http://borrg.soton.ac.uk/