Staff Profile

Qualification(s)

MA, MEng, PhD (Cantab)

Professional Membership(s)

FHEA

Teaching

• Lecturer in Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering
• Degree Programme Director for the programme Chemical Engineering with Year in Industry (MEng Honours)

Research

• Areas of expertise: gas-solid reactions, chemical reaction engineering and reactor modelling
• Current research: developing materials and processes for chemical-looping applications such as carbon capture, blue hydrogen production, air separation, ammonia synthesis and selective oxidation

External links

Google Scholar profile

Scopus profile

Research interests

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a near to mid-term solution to carbon emission control, before full decarbonisation of the economy is possible. My current research focuses on the development and characterisation (thermodynamics and chemical kinetics) of new materials for chemical looping, a particular carbon capture technology. This technology uses solid oxides as oxygen carriers to separate a gas-gas reaction into two or more gas-solid reactions so that the separation of gaseous products can be avoided and the CO₂ produced from the process can be captured directly. Depending on the properties of the oxygen carriers, they can be used for different applications, for example, the direct combustion of fuels, separation of oxygen from air for oxy-fuel combustion, reforming of natural gas and upgrading carbon-based fuels to hydrogen, and alternative routes to chemical synthesis (e.g. ammonia).

Chemical Engineering BEng/MEng programmes

CME2022 : Separation Processes 1

CME3033 : Separation Processes 2

CME3039 : Plant Design

CME3040 : Chemical Engineering Laboratory III

CME8120 : Advanced Design Project

CME8128 : MEng Research Project

MEng in Chemical Engineering with Year in Industry - placement year (Stage 3)

CME3042: Industrial Design Project

CME8110: Chemical Engineering Knowledge

• Articles

  • McNeil L, Chen G, Hu W, Papaioannou E, Metcalfe IS, Mutch GA. Metallic sealants increase flux and change selectivity in supported molten-salt membranes. Reaction Chemistry & Engineering 2025, 10(2), 294-299.
  • Ungut MS, Metcalfe IS, Hu W. Identifying the ideal thermodynamics of non-stoichiometric oxygen-carrier materials for chemical looping water-gas shift. Reaction Chemistry & Engineering 2025, 10(4), 800-809.
  • Telford DM, Hu W, Metcalfe IS, Jones MO, Henry PF, Evans JSO. Average and Local Structure of La_1–xSr_xFe_1–yMn_yO_3−δ Chemical Looping Oxygen Carrier Materials. Chemistry of Materials 2025, 37(9), 3471–3482.
  • Martinez Martin A, Saini S, Neagu D, Hu W, Metcalfe IS, Kousi K. Tailoring the A and B site of Fe-based perovskites for high selectivity in the reverse water-gas shift reaction. Journal of CO2 Utilization 2024, 83, 102784.
  • Yan Y, Lee Pereira RJ, Fella M, Li Z, Hu W, Larring Y, Metcalfe IS. Experimental investigation of La_0.6Sr_0.4FeO_3-δ pellets as oxygen carriers in a counter-current packed-bed reactor for efficient chemical looping CO₂ splitting. Journal of CO2 Utilization 2024, 88, 102935.
  • Zaidi A, de Leeuwe C, Yan Y, Fella M, Hu W, Metcalfe IS, Spallina V. Experimental investigation of La_0.6Sr_0.4FeO_{3 -δ} pellets as oxygen carriers for chemical-looping applications. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2024, 94, 535-544.
  • Penn J, Hu W, Metcalfe IS, Mutch GA. Controlling CO₂ flux in a CO₂-permeable membrane with a H₂O driving force. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2024, 12(44), 30821-30830.
  • Lee Pereira RJ, Metcalfe IS, Hu W. High-throughput screening of suitable nitrogen carriers for chemical looping ammonia synthesis. Applications in Energy and Combustion Science 2023, 16, 100226.
  • Lee Pereira RJ, Hu W, Metcalfe IS. Impact of Gas–Solid Reaction Thermodynamics on the Performance of a Chemical Looping Ammonia Synthesis Process. Energy & Fuels 2022, 36(17), 9757–9767.
  • de Leeuwe C, Hu W, Neagu D, Papaioannou EI, Pramana S, Ray B, Evans JSO, Metcalfe IS. Revisiting the thermal and chemical expansion and stability of La_0.6Sr_0.4FeO_3−δ. Journal of Solid State Chemistry 2021, 293, 121838.
  • de Leeuwe C, Hu W, Evans J, von Stosch M, Metcalfe IS. Production of high purity H₂ through chemical-looping water–gas shift at reforming temperatures – The importance of non-stoichiometric oxygen carriers. Chemical Engineering Journal 2021, 423, 130174.
  • McNeil LA, Mutch GA, Iacoviello F, Bailey JJ, Triantafyllou G, Neagu D, Miller TS, Papaioannou EI, Hu W, Brett DJL, Shearing PR, Metcalfe IS. Dendritic silver self-assembly in molten-carbonate membranes for efficient carbon dioxide capture. Energy & Environmental Science 2020, 13(6), 1766-1775.