Presentation given by Hannah Chalmers of the UKCCSRC on "Capacity Building in the UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre" at the EC FP7 Projects: Leading the way in CCS implementation event, London, 14-15 April 2014

1. CAPACITY BUILDING IN THE UK CARBON
CAPTURE AND STORAGE RESEARCH CENTRE
Hannah Chalmers
Network Director
hannah@ukccsrc.ac.uk

2. About the UKCCSRC
The UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre
(UKCCSRC) leads and coordinates a programme of
underpinning research on all aspects of carbon
capture and storage (CCS) in support of basic science
and UK government efforts on energy and climate
change.
The Centre brings together nearly 200 of the UK’s
world-class CCS academics and provides a national
focal point for CCS research and development.
http://www.ukccsrc.ac.uk

3. How the Centre works
The Centre is a virtual network where academics,
industry, regulators and others in the sector collaborate
to analyse problems devise and carry out world-leading
research and share delivery.
• We do this by working through networks
to deliver impact
• We bring people and projects together
to shape capability
• We fund innovative research to develop leaders

4. Centre funding
• Initial core funding for the UKCCSRC is provided by
£10M from the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) as part of the RCUK Energy
Programme
• This is complemented by £3M in additional funding
from the Department of Energy and Climate Change
(DECC) to establish new capital facilities that will
support innovative research
• 10 partner institutions have contributed £2.5M

5. Centre Membership
• Centre members are UK academics with a track
record in CCS research: they are either
– Principal Investigators or Co-Investigators
on CCS research grants, or
– Have relevant CCS publications
• The Centre is rolling out an Associate Membership
programme for individuals from business/industry,
government/policy and NGOs
www.ukccsrc.ac.uk/membership

6. £2,096,091
£7,148,265
£2,597,074
£658,035
Strategic priorities
Create an effective virtual
Research Centre
Deliver a coordinated
programme of CCS research
Develop sustainable CCS
research capacity and
infrastructure in the UK
Build effective
communication links
and networks with
CCS researchers and
implementers
£12.5M
EPSRC &
Partner
funding

7. Capacity Building Areas
• Bringing together academics and stakeholders to
collectively and systematically identify what
knowledge is required to deliver CCS etc, including
through the UKCCSRC RAPID process
• Getting exposure to larger-scale pilot plants and trial
storage injections for the UK academic community,
including UKCCSRC PACT facilities and links with
other relevant facilities within the UK and overseas
• Establishing links with relevant full-scale CCS
projects and the people who are, or will be,
developing, building and operating them

8. Capture
78
42%
Storage
63
34% Cross-
Cutting
44
24%
UKCCSRC Research Groups
• Members belong to at least
one of three research
groups
– Capture
– Storage
– Cross-cutting issues
• Groups provide a focal point
for the development of new
project ideas and
collaborations.
• They organise specialist
meetings and are key
communication channels for
the Centre and for external
stakeholders

9. UKCCSRC RAPID process
RAPID area Key questions to be addressed
A. Application Impact
Tables and Research
Summaries
• What knowledge and related capacity will be needed to
implement CCS?
• To what extent is necessary knowledge and capacity
already available to users?
B. Research and
Knowledge Activities
• How can gaps in knowledge be met?
C. Knowledge
delivery/sharing
activities
• Who is using academic outputs/information?
• How is information made available to users?
• What are our sources of knowledge exchange?
D. Capacity development
and delivery
• What UKCCSRC-related capacity is required?
• How can this be created, maintained and delivered?

10. PACT (Pilot-Scale Advanced
Capture Technology) Facilities
• Established with DECC and EPSRC funding of £5M
• Offer a unique set of pilot-scale combustion,
gasification, and post-combustion capture
facilities
• Core facilities at Beighton near Sheffield
– joint venture between University of Leeds and
Sheffield
• Facility at University of Edinburgh
(ACTTROM Advanced Capture Testing in a
Transportable Remotely-operated Mini-lab)
• Additional facilities at Cranfield University

11. Working with Europe
• Key objective is to engage with the
Horizon 2020 (H2020) programme to
facilitate Centre Member’s participation
in research and innovation, with a focus
on addressing major societal challenges
• UKCCSRC is a member of the European
Energy Research Alliance (EERA) CCS Joint Programme
• Inform European Commission on research gaps/needs
• Co-ordinate research effort across major European Centres of
Excellence in CCS
• Links to infrastructure sharing via ECCSEL

12. Working with the world
• MOUs with Carbon Management Canada,
SaskPower, Guangdong Low-carbon Technology and
Industry Research Centre (GDLRC)
• Supported FCO visits to USA (2010), Canada (2012),
and Korea (2013)
• Strong links with IEAGHG, GHGT conference series
• Funding to support Centre members’ efforts to
develop significant exchanges and ‘best with best’
collaborations with overseas academics and research
institutions.

13. International engagement
Key Recent Actions
• South Korea (Oct. 2013)
11 delegates, FCO “clean coal technologies” &
GCCSI Global Status of CCS meeting
• Australia (Nov. 2013)
7 delegates, building links with
CO2CRC at Otway site, GDF-Suez's Latrobe and CSIRO
MoU's signed with:
• Guangdong Province, China (Oct 2013), SaskPower, Canada amd
CMC, Canada (2012)
• Earlier: FCO missions for CCS in USA 2010, 2011, Canada 2012

14. International CCS Community Network
• Monthly newsletter to nearly 1,000 subscribers
• International Travel Fund – allowing
UK researchers to collaborate globally
• International Speaker Programme –
Facilitates world-class researchers to
speak at UK meetings and build new
collaborations in the UK
• The UKCCSRC works with a broad range of international
partners to advance CCS research and development

15. Support for Early Career Researchers
• Annual Summer School in Leeds that provides a
broad CCS overview and links the value chain
together.
• Annual meetings of special interest to ECRs
• International Travel Fund – targeted for ECRs to
build new collaborations
• Working with UK Centres for Doctoral Training to
encourage greater community interaction and
sharing of training opportunities

16. Capture
£728,000
Storage
£653,169
Cross-Cutting
£828,000
Call 1
funding:
£2.2M
Awarded
Funding CCS Research
• Centre has £4.5M in
flexible funding to
support CCS research
projects
– Call 1 awarded £2.2M
to 13 projects
– Call 2 will make up
to £2M available and
applications closed on
31st March 2014

17. CALL 1 PROJECTS - CAPTURE
• Experimental investigation and CFD modelling of oxy-coal combustion on
PACT facility with real flue gas and vent gas recycling - £255,000
PI: Dr Hao Liu, University of Nottingham
• Mixed matrix membranes preparation for
post-combustion capture - £73,000
PI: Dr Maria-Chiara Ferrari, University of Edinburgh
• Oxyfuel and exhaust gas recirculation processes in
gas turbine combustion for improved carbon capture
performance – £100,000
PI: Dr Richard Marsh, Cardiff University
• Chemical looping for low-cost oxygen production and other
applications - £300,000
PI: Dr Paul Fennell, Imperial College London

18. CALL 1 PROJECTS – CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES
• Flexible CCS Network Development (FleCCSnet) - £220,000
PI: Dr Julia Race, Newcastle University
• Multiphase flow modelling for risk assessment of dense phase
CO2 pipelines containing impurities - £115,000
PI: Professor Haroun Mahgerefteh, University College London
• Determination of water solubility limits in CO2 mixtures to deliver
water specification levels for CO2 transportation - £100,000
PI: Professor Trevor Drage, University of Nottingham
• Tractable equations of state for CO2 mixtures in CCS: algorithms for automated
generation and optimisation, tailored to end-users - £93,000
PI: Dr Richard Graham, University of Nottingham
• BIO-CAP-UK - Air/Oxy Biomass Combustion with CO2 Capture Technology -
£300,000 (plus £300,000 from Supergen Bioenergy hub)
PI: Professor M Pourkashanian, University of Leeds

19. CALL 1 PROJECTS - STORAGE
• Fault seal controls on storage capacity - £232,169
PI: Dr Andy Chadwick, British Geological Survey
• CO2 storage in Palaeogene and Neogene
hydrogeological systems of the North Sea:
preparation of an IODP scientific drilling bid - £290,000
PI: Dr Samuel Holloway, NERC British Geological Survey
• QICS2 Scoping Project: Exploring the viability and scientific opportunities
of a follow-on marine impact project - £58,000
PI: Dr Mark Naylor, University of Edinburgh
• 3D mapping of large-scale subsurface flow pathways using nanoseismic
monitoring - £73,000
PI: Dr Stella Pytharouli, University of Strathclyde

20. CAPACITY BUILDING IN THE UK CARBON
CAPTURE AND STORAGE RESEARCH CENTRE
Hannah Chalmers
Network Director
hannah@ukccsrc.ac.uk