About the Project
This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the NERC Great Western Four+ Doctoral Training Partnership (GW4+ DTP) for entry in October 2021.
The GW4+ DTP consists of the Great Western Four alliance of the Universities of Bath, Bristol and Exeter and Cardiff University plus five prestigious Research Organisation partners: British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the Natural History Museum and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The partnership aims to provide a broad multi-disciplinary training, designed to produce tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental science.
SUPERVISORY TEAM:
Lead supervisor: Prof Chris Bowen, University of Bath, Department of Mechanical Engineering https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/chris-bowen
Co-supervisors: Prof Meiling Zhu, University of Exeter, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences
CASE Partner: EMD Limited (to be confirmed)
OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH:
Project Background
There is a need to monitor the quality of water in rivers and pipelines, and this is often achieved using a variety of sensors. The deployment of a wide range of sensors to form a sensor network often needs the provision of electrical power for data transmission and sensors that are able to operate continuously for long periods. This often makes it difficult to deploy such systems in remote locations, since batteries need to be replaced or sensors need to be recalibrated. The PhD will involve the development of a ’battery free’ and low maintenance system to provide a self-powered water quality monitoring tool that harvests kinetic energy from water flow. The harvested energy will be used to to support the transmission of water sensor data transmission via LoRa (Long Range) digital wireless data communication technology. The sensor can provide continuous and long-term assessment of water in rivers and pipelines. The water sensors that are coupled to the energy harvesting power supply will be explored since they often require regular re-calibration to remain accurate, and new approaches to ensure that the water sensor can remain functional for longer periods will be examined. A demonstrator system that combines the harvesting mechanism, sensors and data transmission will be produced.
Aims and Methods
Approaches to harvesting energy to be examined will be electro-magnetic (e.g. micro-turbines), piezoelectric (e.g. vibrations induced by water flow) or microbial fuel cells. The optimum approaches to use the harvested power to operation existing long-range data transmission methods will be examined. The water quality sensors that are coupled to the energy harvesting power supply will be explored. As an example, existing chlorine sensors require regular re-calibration to remain accurate, and new approaches to ensure that the water sensor can remain functional for longer periods will be examined. Current chlorine sensors separate the sensing electrodes from the water sample using a membrane and understanding the role of this membrane and how it can be improved will be one aim of the project.
The PhD will involve manufacture and testing of prototype self-powered long-range water quality monitoring system for deployment in rivers or water network. The balance of the activities (harvesting/sensing/transmission) can be changed to reflect the interests of the student.
CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS:
Applicants must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class UK Honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field such as Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics or Chemistry.
The ideal candidate should be interested in water and new methods to assess water quality. The project will involve energy harvesting and sensors; therefore, some familiarity with the use of sensors or instrumentation (i.e. a background in sensing, electronics, materials or energy harvesting) would be advantageous.
APPLICATIONS:
Project enquiries: Dr Chris Bowen, [Email Address Removed].
Application enquiries: [Email Address Removed].
Candidates should apply formally using the relevant University of Bath online application form:
https://samis.bath.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=RDUME-FP01&code2=0015
When completing the form, please state in the ‘Finance’ section that you wish to be considered for NERC GW4+ DTP funding and quote the project title and lead supervisor’s name in the ‘Your research interests’ section. If you wish, you may apply for more than one project within the same application but you should submit a separate personal statement for each one.
If you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, please upload documentary evidence with your application.
More information on how to apply may be found here:
https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/how-to-apply-for-doctoral-study/
Funding Notes
Studentships cover tuition fees at the ‘Home’ level, research/training costs and a stipend (£15,285 p.a., 2020/21 rate) for 3.5 years.
Candidates normally eligible for 'Home' fees are:
UK nationals*
Irish nationals living in the UK/Ireland
Applicants with settled or pre-settled* status in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme
Applicants with indefinite leave to enter/remain in the UK
* must have lived in the UK/EEA/Switzerland continuously since September 2018.
International applicants, not eligible for ‘Home’ fees, may apply and will be considered for a limited number of fee discounts equivalent to the difference between the ‘Home' and ‘Overseas’ tuition fees.
References
Control of electro-chemical processes using energy harvesting materials and devices, Zhang, Y., Xie, M., Adamaki, V., Khanbareh, H. & Bowen, C., 2017, Chemical Society Reviews. 46, 24, 7757-7786
Piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials and structures for energy harvesting applications, CR Bowen, HA Kim, PM Weaver, S Dunn Energy & Environmental Science 7 (1), 25-44 (2014)
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