Science City Research Alliance:
Technical solutions and research expertise
for business
Hydrogen
The
Project
Providing access to the latest thinking, training,
research and state-of-the-art scientific equipment
Who we are
The Hydrogen Project, part of the Science City Research Alliance
(SCRA) programme, covers all aspects of hydrogen research, from
generation, fuel cells and storage, to economics and policy.
The Hydrogen Project
The Hydrogen Energy Project seeks
to develop and commercialise new
processes and technologies for the
sustainable production, storage
and utilisation of hydrogen as an
energy vector in fuel cells to reduce
carbon emissions.
The Hydrogen expertise can be
categorised as follows:
T
he Hydrogen Materials Group in
the School of Metallurgy and Materials
at the University of Birmingham has
over 35 years’ experience in the
investigation and exploitation of
hydrogen interactions with materials.
The laboratory has state of the art
equipment, allowing a large number
of techniques to characterise hydrogen
storing materials. Engineers have also
developed a zero emission canal boat,
powered by a rare earth magnet motor,
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC),
and metal hydride store technologies.
The project was in collaboration with
British Waterways and is used to
demonstrate and raise awareness of
the practical applications of hydrogen.
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The Hydrogen Project is part of the
Energy Futures programme, a key part
of a larger investment in the research
infrastructure of the West Midlands
region, uniting the Universities of
Birmingham and Warwick in the
Science City Research Alliance (SCRA).
The investment encourages the
collaboration of academic and industrial
research, through the use of the latest
equipment in the field.
The Hydrogen Storage Group in the
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School of Chemistry at the University
of Birmingham has an extensive
programme dedicated to the discovery
and synthesis of hydrogen storage
materials. The aim of the group is
to develop materials for hydrogen
storage in fuel cell vehicles.
The School of Chemical Engineering
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at the University of Birmingham is
well recognised for its dynamism and
expertise in Fuel Cell Technologies,
and collaborates with over 60
companies regionally and nationally,
The aim of the Science City Research Alliance is to proactively e
as well as having strong links with
Europe, Canada, the USA and Japan.
Academics in the School of Chemistry
and Chemical Engineering are
collaborating in the development of
new materials for fuel cell electrodes
and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell membranes.
The University of Birmingham works
n
in collaboration with the Midlands
Energy Consortium to run the UK
Doctoral Training Centre in Hydrogen,
Fuel Cells and their Applications.
The Centre trains 10 PhD students per
annum carrying out research in
industry. This project is in turn linked
to an EPSRC funded project which
is training 50 PhD students over
five years.
The Unit of Functional Bionanomaterials
n
in the School of Biosciences at the
University of Birmingham has been
working in the field of biohydrogen
production and waste treatment for
over 15 years. The group has developed
a technology for hydrogen production
from wet organic waste streams that
combines fermentation and photofermentation. The group has access to
facilities which include twin 100 litre
pilot-scale fermentation systems with
online gas analysis. Such technology can
reduce the waste streams by up to
90%, producing only clean biohydrogen,
which can then be used in fuel cells
for the generation of electricity.
Access the expertise of the leading
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academics in their field
Collaborative Research
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Work with University experts to
develop your R&D.
Access to equipment, expert
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personnel and training for staff
Joint opportunities for
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research funding
Support in developing joint proposals.
Researchers within Chemistry at
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Warwick University have experience
and expertise in the design and use
of catalytic materials that are
capable of generating hydrogen gas
from small molecules, including waste
materials such as glycerol, formic acid
and carbohydrates.
The Warwick Chemistry Group also
n
works on catalysts for the transfer of
hydrogen between organic molecules,
which can be employed for the
synthesis of high value materials (e.g.
pharmaceutical components) from
low-value ones (e.g. small alcohols).
The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell
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Research Group at the University
of Birmingham focuses on four main
projects: Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Fuel
Cell Applications and Modelling,
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells and
Hydrogen Production.
SCRA’s offer to business
Seminars, workshops and briefings
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Facilitating knowledge exchange by
communicating the latest research
technologies and innovations, creating
a stronger bond and a working conduit
between the company and the University.
The potential for involvement
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in PhD research projects and
the opportunity to access
internships/placements
Licensing
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Access to University Intellectual
Property.
The Warwick Materials Solid State
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NMR Group undertakes a large
portfolio of research spanning
areas such as energy materials,
catalytic materials and surfaces,
glasses and bioglasses, and many
systems underpinned by organic,
organometallic, transition metal
and rare earth chemistry.
encourage industrial-academic collaboration and joint research
Case studies
United Utilities Water
United Utilities (UU) is one of the UK’s
largest water companies. It provides
water and wastewater services to nearly
seven million people in the North West
of England, supplying nearly 2 billion
litres of tap-water a day. UU’s assets
include 22 anaerobic digestion plants
where sewage sludge is converted to
biogas (methane), which is burned to
generate clean sustainable energy. This
is used to reduce the energy needed in
the sewage treatment processes and has
potential to allow export to other users.
Until recent times sewage sludge was
considered a waste to be disposed of
but today it is recognised as a valuable
resource. As well as energy there is
scope to recover materials such as
phosphorous and other elements,
some of which are becoming scarce.
UU has teamed up with one of the
University of Birmingham’s spin-out
companies, Biowaste2energy, and its
associates, Sustainable Resource Solutions,
to examine the feasibility of increasing
energy generation from waste using the
Biowaste2energy process.
EADS Innovation Works & RCUK
(Unmanned aircraft)
The feasibility study concluded that UU
could reduce its overall spend on grid
electricity by up to 15% and avoid an
estimated maximum of 63 million kg
CO2 emissions per year using the new
technology. WRAP (the project funder)
will be publishing the feasibility report
in full for Autumn 2012.
As part of the group’s objectives, EADS
is determined to improve eco-efficiency
across its products and its industrial
processes. With this in mind, EADS
Innovation Works partnered with the
University of Birmingham to research
and develop the incorporation of a Solid
Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) stack into an
unmanned aerial vehicle. Research,
led by Dr Waldemar Bujalski at the
University of Birmingham, has investigated
the performance of a SOFC by recording
steady-state current, voltage and power
outputs. The initial results have showed
reassuringly strong, fast performance,
indicative of a suitable cell for use in
vehicles. Future work will seek to adapt
the design for optimal performance on
hydrocarbon fuels.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace,
defence and related services with a
workforce of over 133,000, including
more than 17,000 employees in the UK.
The project is ongoing but already a new
way of making cathodes which are more
environmentally friendly has been
established, and a UK patent application
is pending.
Dedicated experienced Business Engagement Managers facil
Heineken UK
Heineken is a major international brewer
that encompasses many popular brands
(e.g. Heineken, Foster’s, Bulmers Cider).
Brewers are active in minimising their
CO2 emissions, including those from
the fermentation process along with
the costs for disposal of process wastes
(e.g. spent grain or apple pomace).
Heineken has therefore teamed up
with the University of Birmingham to
investigate potential solutions for both
these issues.
The University’s School of Biosciences
carried out research into potential uses
for the spent grain. Researchers found
that it could be treated with hot
compressed water to release
fermentable sugars and demonstrated
efficient biohydrogen production using
these new sugars as the raw material.
Results using spent grain were
subsequently published in the
Bioresource Technology journal (2012).
Before this discovery, the waste-tohydrogen bioreactor and the CO2-tofoodstuff bioreactor would have to
take up separate spaces meaning that
less could be achieved on limited
available ground area. Whereas
‘beam-sharing’ enables an integrated,
efficient CO2-abatement and
waste-to-hydrogen system.
“We set out to investigate how we could
reduce and utilise our CO2 emissions in
innovative ways. This work showed that
the science and techniques were possible.
Combining all this together we recognised
the further potential for an integrated
bioreactor to improve our efficiency and
reducing cost. At this early stage further
development will be required to bring the
bioreactor to market. I am grateful for the
expertise in the School of Biosciences
accessed through the SCRA Hydrogen
Project, which highlighted the exciting
potential.”
Richard Heathcote, Sustainable
Development Manager,
Heineken UK Limited
A secondary interdisciplinary project
looking into brewery CO2 showed
that it can provide the carbon source
for high-value edible microbes called
Spirulina. It also found that Spirulina
can share the same space as the
hydrogen-producing bacteria using
a new ‘beam-sharing’ technique being
published in the Biotechnology Letters
journal (2012).
litate interaction between businesses and academics
A strategic union between two of the leading
research Universities in the Midlands - the University
of Birmingham and the University of Warwick
Our expertise
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Low Carbon Challenge
Materials for Hydrogen Storage
n Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology
n BioFuels
n Waste to Energy
n Electric/Hybrid Vehicles
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The Science City Research Alliance
The Science City Research Alliance
(SCRA) is a strategic union between
two of the leading research universities
in the Midlands, the University of
Birmingham and the University of
Warwick. The Alliance was formed
under the Birmingham Science City
initiative and has benefited from a
multi-million pound investment by
Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and
the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF) in the technology areas
of Advanced Materials, Energy Futures
and Translational Medicine.
With an investment of nearly £20
million the programme has unrivalled
expertise in both nano and bulk
functional materials and processing.
The state-of-the-art equipment and
facilities available to business are
applicable to a vast range of problems
in materials research.
Energy Futures
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Meeting the low carbon challenge
affects us all. How we develop
energies for the future will be critical
to meeting this challenge. The Energy
Futures programme focuses on a
range of specialist areas in the low
carbon landscape including - hydrogen
power, waste to energy, biofuels,
powertrain technologies and energy
efficient technologies.
The investment has funded joint
equipment and research infrastructure
at both institutions, as well as specialist
personnel such as Technical Facility
Managers and Business Engagement
Managers who have considerable
industrial experience and expertise
and will guide businesses through
each stage of the engagement process.
The principal aim of SCRA is to engage
with business and industry - giving
access to the latest research and
state-of-the-art equipment in science
and technology.
Advanced Materials
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The Advanced Materials programme
has expertise to cover everything
from materials synthesis, analysis and
characterisation through to processing
and device fabrication.
An investment of £20 million in
infrastructure and equipment has
enabled us to capitalise on the two
universities’ expertise and research
into cardio vascular disease, infection,
metabolism, neuroscience and
reproduction, establishing the West
Midlands as one of the major centres
for clinical trials in Europe.
We have invested £17.2 million in
new equipment and facilities which
has created a unique opportunity
for businesses to work with us on
collaborative research in this developing field.
nTranslational Medicine
Translating experimental research
into a direct patient benefit is a key
issue for the medical sector. Two
vital components in this process are
advanced equipment (including new
buildings) and clinical trials.
For all information and enquiries
please contact:
University of Birmingham
businessteam@bham.ac.uk
T: 0121 414 3898
www.birminghamsciencecity.co.uk/research-alliance
SCRA is working in partnership with
many companies across the UK and
overseas, such as Jaguar Land Rover,
Eon, ITM Power, Microcab Industries,
River Simple and EADS. SCRA also
assists SMEs in the development of
their own technologies and improving
products and processes.