About the Project
Faculty
Faculty of Engineering and Environment
Research Centre
Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering
Principal Supervisor
Dr Noel Perera
Project Description
The environmental impact of greenhouse gases emitted by marine transportation vessels and their reduction of use of antifouling coatings has been known for many years. However, the total environmental impact of the vessel construction process (from a coating viewpoint) from delivery of steel to delivery of the finished product to the end of life when the vessel is scrapped is not as well understood. Coatings are applied to the bare steel (shop primer), to the shop-primed steel at the new build stage. Through the lifetime of the vessel the coatings are repaired (on board maintenance) and at intervals, the coatings may be entirely removed and new coatings applied (major refurbishment). Developments in paint technology, for example to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by increasing volume solids, are not necessarily without impact on the remainder of the coating process. For example increasing volume solids to reduce VOC requires more powerful pumps that need more energy to run. The aim of this research would therefore be to assess the overall environmental impact of changes in the paint formulation and the coating process on the whole process chain throughout the 25 year life of a marine vessel from new build to scrapping.
The candidate we are looking for, should have:
• Knowledge in sustainability and some appreciation of the construction process of marine vessels.
• Interest in Life Cycle Assessment. Prior knowledge on LCA tools is a plus
• Good mathematical skills including knowledge of statistics.
Funding: Must be self-funded. For further information on fees can be found:
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/fees-and-funding/
Candidates are expected to pay an additional amount of £1,500 to cover bench fees.
Informal Enquiries
Enquiries regarding this studentship should be made to: Dr Noel Perera [Email Address Removed]
Eligibility
For further details of how to apply, entry requirements and the application form, see
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/
Please ensure you quote the advert reference above on your application form.
Both full time and part time applicants will be considered.
How to Apply
Application forms should be requested from,
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/media/4621114/354969k-pg-research-app-form-fillable.pdf
and returned to: [Email Address Removed]
Deadline for applications: Open
Start Date: Open
Funding Notes
This studentship is only open to self-funding candidates. Self-funding candidates are expected to pay University fees and to provide their own living costs. In addition, a ‘bench fee’ will have to be paid to cover project running costs (at a level that will be determined specifically for each project).
References
Recent publications by supervisors relevant to this project
1) Oriaifo, Emmanuel, Perera, Noel, Guy, Alan, Leung, Pak Sing and Tan, K T (2014) A review of test protocols for assessing coating performance of water ballast tank coatings. In: The ICMNE 2014: XII International Conference on Marine and Naval Engineering, 29th - 30th September 2014, Istanbul, Turkey.
2) Ozoemena, Matthew, Cheung, Wai Ming, Hasan, Reaz and Hackney, Philip (2014) A hybrid Data Quality Indicator and statistical method for improving uncertainty analysis in LCA of a small off-grid wind turbine. In: ARCOM Doctoral Workshop on Sustainable Urban Retrofit and Technologies, 19 June 2014, London South Bank University.
3) Ozoemena, Matthew, Cheung, Wai Ming, Hasan, Reaz and Hackney, Philip (2013) A Review of Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Systems. In: 11th International Conference on Manufacturing Research, 19 - 20 September 2013, Cranfield University.