Staff Profile

I am a Lecturer in Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering since 2017. My areas of expertise are gas-solid reactions, chemical reaction engineering and reactor modelling. My current research focuses on developing materials and processes for chemical-looping applications such as carbon capture, hydrogen production, air separation and selective oxidation.

Qualifications

MA, MEng, PhD (Cantab)

Memberships

AMIChemE

FHEA

Other 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.

Chemical Engineering BEng/MEng Programmes

CME3033 : Separation Processes 2

CME3039 : Plant Design

CME3040 : Chemical Engineering Laboratory II

CME8120 : Advanced Design Project

CME8128 : MEng Research Project

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

CME3028: Industrial Design Project

CME3037: Separation Processes 2

CME8110: Chemical Engineering Knowledge

• 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, 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Metcalfe IS, Ray B, Dejoie C, Hu W, de Leeuwe C, Dueso C, García-García F, Mak C, Papaioannou E, Thompson CR, Evans JSO. Overcoming chemical equilibrium limitations using a thermodynamically-reversible chemical reactor. Nature Chemistry 2019, 11(7), 638-643.
• Zheng Y, Grant R, Hu W, Marek E, Scott SA. H₂ production from partial oxidation of CH₄ by Fe₂O₃-supported Ni-based catalysts in a plasma-assisted packed bed reactor. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 2019, 37(4), 5481-5488.
• Hu W, Marek E, Donat F, Dennis JS, Scott SA. A thermogravimetric method for the measurement of CO/CO₂ ratio at the surface of carbon during combustion. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 2019, 37(3), 2987-2993.
• Huang J, Liu W, Hu W, Metcalfe I, Yang Y, Liu B. Phase interactions in Ni-Cu-Al₂O₃ mixed oxide oxygen carriers for chemical looping applications. Applied Energy 2019, 236, 635-647.
• Zheng Y, Grant R, Hu W, Scott SA. Pyrolysis of wood pellets in the presence of oxygen carriers in a fluidised bed coupled with a DBD reactor for tar quantification. Chemical Engineering Journal 2019, 355, 858-870.
• Marek E, Hu W, Gaultois M, Grey CP, Scott SA. The use of strontium ferrite in chemical looping systems. Applied Energy 2018, 223, 369-382.
• Johnston SRW, Ray B, Hu W, Metcalfe IS. An investigation into the stability and use of non-stoichiometric YBaCo₄O_7+δ for oxygen enrichment processes. Solid State Ionics 2018, 320, 292-296.
• Gorke RH, Hu W, Dunstan MT, Dennis JS, Scott SA. Exploration of the material property space for chemical looping air separation applied to carbon capture and storage. Applied Energy 2018, 212, 478-488.
• Menon A, Waller N, Hu W, Hayhurst AN, Davidson JF, Scott SA. The combustion of solid paraffin wax and of liquid glycerol in a fluidised bed. Fuel 2017, 199, 447–455.
• Lau CY, Dunstan MT, Hu W, Grey CP, Scott SA. Large scale in silico screening of materials for carbon capture through chemical looping. Energy & Environmental Science 2017, 10(3), 818-831.
• Hu W, Donat F, Scott SA, Dennis JS. The interaction between CuO and Al₂O₃ and the reactivity of copper aluminates below 1000 °C and their implication on the use of the Cu-Al-O system for oxygen storage and production. RSC Advances 2016, 6(114), 113016-113024.
• Donat F, Hu W, Scott SA, Dennis JS. The use of a chemical looping reaction to determine the residence time distribution of solids in a circulating fluidized bed. Energy Technology 2016, 4(10), 1230–1236.
• Hu W, Donat F, Scott SA, Dennis JS. Kinetics of oxygen uncoupling of a copper based oxygen carrier. Applied Energy 2016, 161, 92-100.
• Donat F, Hu W, Scott SA, Dennis JS. Characteristics of Copper-based Oxygen Carriers Supported on Calcium Aluminates for Chemical-Looping Combustion with Oxygen Uncoupling (CLOU). Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2015, 54(26), 6713–6723.
• Liu W, Ismail M, Dunstan MT, Hu W, Zhang Z, Fennell PS, Scott SA, Dennis JS. Inhibiting the interaction between FeO and Al₂O₃ during chemical looping production of hydrogen. RSC Advances 2015, 5(3), 1759-1771.