Publications

Many advanced steels are based on tempered martensitic microstructures. Their mechanical strength is characterized by fine sub-grain structures with a high density of free dislocations and metallic carbides and/or nitrides. However the strength for practical use has been limited mostly to below 1400 MPa owing to delayed fractures that are caused by hydrogen. A literature survey suggests that ε-carbide in the tempered martensite is effective for str Read More

The CCC has established a variety of viable scenarios in which UK decarbonisation targets can be met. Each has consequences for the way in which the UK’s gas network infrastructure is utilised. This report considers the implications of decarbonisation for the future regulation of the gas grid.The CCC’s 5th Carbon Budget envisaged different scenarios that would enable the UK to meet its emissions targets for 2050. These scenarios represent holistic analyses Read More

In this report Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions the Committee on Climate Change assesses how the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are quantified where uncertainties lie and the implications for setting carbon budgets and measuring progress against climate change targets. The report finds that:The methodology for constructing the UK’s greenhouse gas inventory is rigorous but the process for identifying improvements could be strengthened. Read More

For the evaluation of hydrogen and fuel cell vehicle safety a new comprehensive facility was constructed in our institute. The new facility includes an explosion resistant indoor vehicle fire test building and high pressure hydrogen tank safety evaluation equipment. The indoor vehicle fire test building has sufficient strength to withstand even an explosion of a high pressure hydrogen tank of 260 liter capacity and 70 MPa pressure. It also has enough s Read More

This is our sixth statutory report to Parliament on progress towards meeting carbon budgets. In it we consider the latest data on emissions and their drivers. This year the report also includes a full assessment of how the first carbon budget (2008-2012) was met drawing out policy lessons and setting out what is required for the future to stay on track for the legislated carbon budgets and the 2050 target. The report includes assessment at the level of the e Read More

As governments focus on dealing with the Covid-19 health emergency they are increasingly turning their attention to the impact of shutting down their economies and how to revive them quickly through stimulus measures. Economic recovery packages offer a unique opportunity to create jobs while supporting clean energy transitions around the world.Energy efficiency and renewable energy like wind and solar PV – the cornerstones of any cle Read More

Clarification of questions of safety represents a decisive contribution to the successful introduction of vehicles fuelled by hydrogen. At the moment the safety of hydrogen is being discussed and investigated by various bodies. The primary focus is on fuel-cell vehicles with hydrogen stored in gaseous form. This paper looks at the safety of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles with an internal combustion engine and liquefied hydrogen storage. The safety concept of BMW’s Read More

It is expected that hydrogen will serve as a nonpolluting carrier of energy for the next generation of vehicles and guidelines for its safe use are required. Hydrogen-gas service stations for supplying fuel cell vehicles will have to handle high-pressure hydrogen gas but safety regulations for such installations have not received much investigation. In this study we experimentally investigated the flame characteristics of a rapid leakage of high-pressure hydrog Read More

This report forms part of the Committee’s advice on the level of the fifth carbon budget.The report describes the scenarios used by the Committee to inform its judgements over the cost-effective path to meeting the UK’s greenhouse reduction targets in the period 2028-2032.

The first part of the present work is to validate a detailed kinetic mechanism for the oxidation of hydrogen – methane – air mixtures in a detonation waves. A series of experiments on auto-ignition delay times have been performed by shock tube technique coupled with emission spectrometry for H2 / CH4 / O2 mixtures highly diluted in argon. The CH4/H2 ratio was varied from 0 to 4 and the equivalence ratio from 0.4 up to 1. The temperature range was Read More