An ECR in Naples

My name is María Erans Moreno. I am a second year PhD student at Cranfield University working in modified sorbents for Calcium looping. My PhD, mainly experimental, consists of testing different synthetic materials on both reactivity and mechanical behaviour to assess their suitability for the use in large scale CaL plants.

I received the UKCCSRC’s ECR International Exchange Fund to spend one month at the University of Naples Federico II, Combustion Institute, hosted by Dr Osvalda Senneca. During my trip to Naples, I carried out extensive studies on different samples that I had previously prepared to see how fragmentation would affect the performance; the samples were biomass-templated calcium aluminate cement. Their behaviour was analysed both in bubbling fluidised bed (BFB) and pressurised heated strip reactor (PHSR). Moreover, complementary SEM, XRD and TG analysis were carried out.

I really enjoyed my stay in Naples – I participated in some tar analysis and learnt a great deal about coal combustion and pyrolysis as well as performing all my experiments. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful and the city was very nice. Although the weather was pretty much like in England during my stay in Italy I enjoyed some typical food and visited enough of the city to know that I will come back if I have the chance.

I would like to thank all the people working in CNR and University Federico II in the Chemical Engineering department, especially Osvalda Senneca for hosting my visit, Fabrizio Scala and Antonio Coppola for their valuable advice and insight into attrition and fragmentation of calcium looping materials. Lastly, to Francesca Cerciello for her help during all my stay.