###The future role of UK refineries in a net zero transition
Project ID: 2228bc1240 (You will need this ID for your application)
DTP-CASE project: This project involves industrial collaboration. The student would need to spend a minimum of 3 months (as either a single block, or multiple shorter blocks) at the partner’s premises. Industrial partner: UK Petroleum Industry Association Limited Enhanced stipend: £2,500 per year
Research Theme: Energy and Decarbonisation
UCL Lead department: Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources
Lead Supervisor: Paul Dodds
Project Summary:
Oil refineries manufacture a wide range of products for energy and non-energy uses from fossil fuels. Demands for some refinery outputs, such as diesel, are expected to greatly reduce after 2030, while others will be much less affected.
The six UK refineries could change the way their units operate, or invest in new equipment, to change the proportions of each petroleum product that is produced. They could also invest to enable greater use of fuels such as biomass and low-carbon hydrogen to reduce the lifecycle emissions of their products. The aim of this PhD is to investigate how demands for products from oil refineries might change in the future as the global economy decarbonises, and what the implications are for the design of refineries.
The primary analysis tool will be the UK TIMES energy system model, which the UK Government used to generate scenarios for the UK’s Net Zero Strategy (2021). You will use the model to explore decarbonisation pathways for sectors using petroleum products. You will develop a much more sophisticated representation of the six oil refineries and their options for future developments, to understand how they might adapt to changing demands in the future and whether existing refineries might be adapted to use biomass-derived fuels and low-carbon hydrogen to produce lower-carbon petroleum products.
The UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA), a trade association representing refineries, is sponsoring this PhD. You will benefit from the substantial technical knowledge within UKPIA about the UK’s oil refineries and will have the opportunity to visit the refineries.
The project is ideally suited to a quantitative individual with a chemical or process engineering background who is motivated to work on problems that can have a real-world impact in supporting the transition to a decarbonised energy system.
This studentship will have an enhanced stipend.