Engineering hydrogen
As we transition into the post fossil fuel era, hydrogen is seen by many as the obvious alternative. The production of hydrogen is the current focus of Professors Mamdud Hossain and Nadimul Faisal at RGU. We sat down with them to discuss the research project for which they are seeking funding.
Professor Hossain is a mechanical engineer from Bangladesh. After completing his undergraduate degree at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, he moved to the UK to complete a PhD at the University of Loughborough in 1996. Professor Hossain then remained at Loughborough to complete his post-doctoral studies. He has now been a lecturer and research fellow at RGU since 2006. Professor Hossain’s focus has been offshore oil and gas but has now turned his eye to the future of hydrogen production.
Professor Faisal is a mechanical engineer, born in India before moving to the United Kingdom in 2004 and studying a PHD at Heriot Watt University in 2009. Following on from this he took a post as a teaching fellow at Strathclyde University then moved to complete his post-doctoral studies in Saudi Arabia. He then took up a post at RGU in 2013 and has since progressed to professor within the university. Professor Faisal has also undertaken several pieces of professional work, currently working in partnership with the RGU accelerator scheme.
The two professors are currently working to develop green hydrogen to aid the global effort to solve the climate crisis. They aim to create hydrogen using electrodes powered by wind turbines that can be mass produced. Computer simulations are currently being run to prove their concept for mass production. These simulations are imperative to investigate the electrolyser process in more detail, so that this ability for mass production of green energy can be demonstrated.
Within the project Professor Faisal has a larger focus on the materials being used. He is using his expertise to develop a coating to improve the efficiency of the electrolysis process. They are hoping that these coatings will provide an improved catalyst that will improve the efficiency of the reactions.
One of the challenges that the team has faced is obtaining funding, with the researchers currently fighting to get the next stage of the project approved. Another challenge that the team are facing is how their research relates to real world problems like trade disputes as materials such as Zinc cannot be easily obtained within the UK in the capacity that the researchers need. This problem is amplified, because some of the countries that are rich in these resources such as Afghanistan are currently politically unstable.
The end goal of the project is to connect the project to the Aberdeen Bay wind turbines, which will allow the city to improve its sustainability. This project is just one example for the school of engineering investing in the future, aiming to be a world leader in the field with the knowledge and the skills to help with the climate crisis.
