The Multiphase Systems Laboratory specialises in the design of chemical processes that incorporate porous solids, with application related to the energy and the chemical industry, and its transition to adopting more sustainable solutions. A major focus of this research is reducing CO2 emissions from industrial processes by incorporating technologies, such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Our overarching goal is to optimise performance, while embedding sustainability in both the materials and processes associated with these new technologies.

We shed light on the fundamental mechanisms that govern fluid phase-behaviour as well as single- and multi-phase flows in porous systems by using experiments, mathematical analysis and numerical models across a range of length scales. Our research is highly interdisciplinary and develops at the interface between chemical engineering and other disciplines, including material and earth sciences. We specialise in the use of imaging techniques, such as x-ray tomographic microscopy, optical microscopy and positron emission tomography, to unravel processes that are “buried” within these opaque porous media. We deploy a range of computational methods to reconcile the experimental observations, including models that describe processes in individual pores to formulations that work at the continuum-scale and are therefore better suited for process design and optimisation.