Background

Education

• PhD Chemical Engineering, Newcastle University, 2013-2018
• MEng (Hons) Chemical Engineering, Newcastle University, 2009-2013

Professional Memberships

• Associate Member of IChemE

Awards

• Invited plenary lecture delivered at the UK Heat Transfer Conference (Sep 2019)
• National SET award winner for best chemical engineering student, sponsored by AWE (2013)
• MEng Top Student Award (2013)
• William Benedict Coleman Scholarship recipient (2010)

Other Activities

• Guest Editor for Thermal Science and Engineering Progress (Special Issue: Proceedings of the 16th UK Heat Transfer Conference)
• Associate Consultant for David Reay and Associates (http://www.drassociates.co.uk/)

Links:

• Google Scholar
• Researchgate
• Linkedin

Research

Research Interests:

• Reaction engineering
• Flow chemistry
• Fluid mechanics
• Reactor design
• Meso/micro-fluidics
• 3D printing/additive manufacturing
• Carbon capture
• Fluidization

Previous Research Project:

Novel adsorbents applied to integrated energy-efficient industrial CO₂ capture [EP/N024540/1]

The UK Government has an ambitious target to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050. Industrial processes account for 25% of total EU CO2 emissions, and moreover, they are already operating at or close to the theoretical limits of efficiency. Therefore, CO2 capture and storage (CCS) is the only technology that can deliver the required emission reductions. However, efficiency and capital cost penalties associated with CO2 capture are hindering the deployment of CCS. There is an opportunity here for industrial CCS to operate at a wider range of temperatures and to integrate available thermal streams with heat required for on-site sorbent regeneration. 

This multidisciplinary proposal unites leading engineers and scientists from the Universities of Heriot-Watt, Hull and Newcastle to realise our vision of integrating novel hydrotalcite solid sorbents with advanced heat integration processes for industrial CO2 capture. Hydrotalcite materials present a big potential for industrial CCS, as they show faster kinetics and better regenerability over other high temperature sorbents; however, their application in industrial capture processes remains largely unexplored. We will research novel methodologies to enhance and tailor performance of hydrotalcites for CO2 capture over a wide range of conditions needed in industrial processes. We will also address the challenge of designing a suitable process that combines the roles of heat management (heat recovery for desorption) and mass transfer (ad- and desorption) across a range of process conditions (temperature, pressure, humidity, gas constituents) with a degree of flexibility that is economically and technically viable.

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching:

• CME1025: Principles of Chemical Engineering (Intro. to Process Safety)
• CME2030: Chemical Engineering Laboratory I
• CME8117: MEng Research Projects

PhD Supervision:

• Awad Alamri (2nd) "Screening of CO2 adsorbents using micro-fluidized beds" 2020-
• Guanqi Wang (2nd) "Characterisation and applications of Leidenfrost rings" 2018-

Publications

• McDonough J. A perspective on the current and future roles of additive manufacturing in process engineering, with an emphasis on heat transfer. Thermal Science and Engineering Progress 2020, epub ahead of print.
• McDonough JR, Law R, Reay DA, Groszek D, Zivkovic V. Miniaturisation of the toroidal fluidization concept using 3D printing. Chemical Engineering Research and Design 2020, ePub ahead of print.
• McDonough JR, Armett J, Law R, Harvey AP. Coil-in-Coil Reactor: Augmenting Plug Flow Performance by Combining Different Geometric Features Using 3D Printing. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2019, 58(47), 21363-21371.
• McDonough JR. A perspective on the current and future roles of additive manufacturing in process engineering with an emphasis on heat transfer [Plenary Talk]. In: The 16th UK Heat Transfer Conference. 2019, University of Nottingham.
• McDonough JR, Ahmed SMR, Phan AN, Harvey AP. The development of helical vortex pairs in oscillatory flows – A numerical and experimental study. Chemical Engineering and Processing - Process Intensification 2019, 143, 107588.
• McDonough JR, Law R, Reay DA, Zivkovoic V. Intensified carbon capture using swirling fluidized beds: hydrodynamics investigation and sorbent screening. In: The Second International Process Intensification Conference (IPIC2). 2019, Leuven, Belgium: IPIC2.
• Zivkovic V, McDonough JR, Law R, Reay DA. Fluidization in Small-Scale Gas-Solid 3D-Printed Fluidized Beds. In: Fluidization XVI. 2019, Guilin, China: AIChE.
• McDonough JR, Law R, Reay DA, Zivkovic V. Intensified carbon capture using swirling fluidized beds. In: ChemEngDay 2019. 2019, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK: IChemE.
• McDonough JR, Law R, Reay DA, Zivkovic V. Fluidization in small-scale gas-solid 3D-printed fluidized beds. Chemical Engineering Science 2019, Epub ahead of print.
• McDonough JR, Oates MF, Law R, Harvey AP. Micromixing in oscillatory baffled flows. Chemical Engineering Journal 2019, 361, 508-518.
• McDonough JR, Murta S, Law R, Harvey AP. Oscillatory fluid motion unlocks plug flow operation in helical tube reactors at lower Reynolds numbers (Re ≤ 10). Chemical Engineering Journal 2018, 358, 643-657.
• McDonough JR, Law R, Reay DA, Zivkovic V. Flow regime mapping of small-scale gas-solid fluidized beds. In: 6th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF). 2018, Atlanta, USA: MNF.
• McDonough JR, Oates MF, Law R, Harvey AP. Micro-mixing performance of mesoscale oscillatory baffled reactors. In: 6th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF). 2018, Atlanta, USA: MNF.
• McDonough JR, Law R, Reay DA, Zivkovic V. Intensified Carbon Capture using Adsorption: Heat Transfer Challenges and Potential Solutions. Thermal Science and Engineering Progress 2018, 8, 17-30.
• McDonough JR, Phan AN, Harvey AP. The mesoscale oscillatory baffled reactor facilitates intensified kinetics screening when the solvent is removed. Chemical Engineering and Processing - Process Intensification 2018, 129, 51-62.
• McDonough JR, Law R, Harvey AP. Intensification of Transport Phenomena using 3D Printed Fluidic Oscillators [Keynote Lecture]. In: 10th World Congress of Chemical Engineering. 2017, Barcelona, Spain.
• McDonough JR, Ahmed SMR, Phan AN, Harvey AP. A study of the flow structures generated by oscillating flows in a helical baffled tube. Chemical Engineering Science 2017, 171, 160-178.
• McDonough JR, Law R, Kraemer J, Harvey AP. Effect of geometrical parameters on flow-switching frequencies in 3D printed fluidic oscillators containing different liquids. Chemical Engineering Research and Design 2017, 117, 228-239.
• McDonough JR, Phan AN, Reay DA, Harvey AP. Passive isothermalisation of an exothermic reaction in flow using a novel "Heat Pipe Oscillatory Baffled Reactor (HPOBR)". Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification 2016, 110, 201-213.
• McDonough JR, Phan AN, Harvey AP. Rapid process development using oscillatory baffled mesoreactors - A state-of-the-art review. Chemical Engineering Journal 2015, 265, 110-121.