An ECR in Nanjing, China

I am Lunbo Duan, a research fellow on clean energy systems in Cranfield University. I would like to acknowledge the UKCCSRC firstly for funding me to visit Southeast University (SEU), China, through the UKCCSRC ECR International Exchange Fund. Secondly, I thank my line manager Prof. Ben Anthony in Cranfield University who supported my application and Prof. Laihong Shen in SEU who made my visit a success.

SEU is one of the national key universities administered directly under the Central Government and the Ministry of Education (MOE) of China. It is also one of the oldest universities in China, first established in 1902. SEU ranks in the top 10 in science and technology in China. The scenery at the main SEU campus in Sipailou, Nanjing, was as beautiful as before, especially in late autumn.

The School of Energy & Environment in SEU is one of the key research centers on carbon capture and storage (CCS) in China. It leads the research activities in oxy-fuel combustion and chemical looping combustion (CLC) in China. Three senior academics, Prof. Laihong Shen, Wenguo Xiang and Rui Xiao are leading CLC research activities in the center. The main lab facilities, including three dual-bed reactors with capacity from 1kW to 25kW, a triple-bed CLC reactor (10 kW) and a pressurized CLC reactor (50kW), are used to test a variety of oxygen carriers including nickel, iron, copper and calcium based and so on. Additionally, the lab is equipped with a state-of-the-art TGA, on which I have tested the copper oxide oxygen carrier prepared in Cranfield. During the meetings and in-depth discussions with the leading academics in the center, it was clear that there is great potential for future UK-China research collaboration in CLC and other CCS technologies.

During my stay at SEU, I participated and was actively involved in the organization of the 4th international workshop on oxy-fuel FBC technology held in SEU. This workshop was first initiated by Prof. Ben Anthony when he was in CanmetEnergy, Canada, and developed very well. More than 100 attendees from 13 countries gathered in Nanjing to share their research experience on oxy-fuel study and it was a successful event.