About the project
In response to the climate crisis and to tackle global warming through reducing emissions, we must decarbonise the world’s energy. It is highly likely that future energy sources and fuels will need to be transported around the globe. Even if such sources are produced renewably, the distribution of resources and energy consumption are not even and are unlikely to always coincide. Hydrogen is one potential future energy source. Hydrogen has a low volumetric energy density and is thus likely to require large ships for transport, probably with it in liquid form.
The properties of hydrogen bring many engineering challenges associated with its safe and efficient transport onboard a ship, including loading and unloading procedures, that must be understood to enable design of safe and reliable systems. This PhD will investigate the behaviour of hydrogen, initially in liquid form, as it disperses and changes phase. It is expected that a range of computational fluid dynamics modelling tools will be used and potential improvements incorporated to advance these, in order to understand the dispersion behaviour of the hydrogen. It is likely that access to experimental data will be made possible during the project, for comparison and validation purposes.
You will work closely with our industrial partner, Shell Shipping and Maritime, as well as other key stakeholders in the development of liquid hydrogen transportation and therefore this research has the potential to significantly influence the energy transition for global shipping as it moves towards zero carbon fuels. There are opportunities to spend time with Shell Shipping and Maritime as part of your PhD studies. The PhD will contribute to the research of the Centre for Maritime Futures at the University.
