PhD Projects
Experimental study of the effect of fitting winglets to a tidal turbine 
The projects aim is to study the effect of adding winglets to a 1/20th scaled tidal turbine, and measure their impact on the Power and Thrust coefficients (CP and CT). In theory, an increase in the CP would be a result of the reduction of any tip losses. Previous CFD simulations and experiments carried out on wind ...
Realising the Isle of Wight’s aspiration for renewable energy power generation and local consumption 
In the UK, the Isle of Wight (IoW) wish to become self-sufficient in electricity from renewable sources, which is likely to be achieved through the deployment of utility-scale solar PV farms augmented with rooftop solar PV systems.
Site suitability analysis for renewable off-grid systems using GIS-MADM in Sudan 
This research aims to investigate the potential for implementing clean off-grid energy systems for rural electrification in Sudan. Analysis using the GIS (Geographic Information System) -MADM (Multiple Attribute Decision Making) method will identify sites suitability for renewable off-grid electricity systems. The methodology includes four main strands of work: (a) assessment of renewable energy availability in ...
Impact of solar PV penetration on city grids in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
This research studies the impact of PV penetration on the grid of the University of Jeddah Campus, knowledge generated will support analysis on a medium size city in KSA to displace fossil fuel power supply currently been used.
Supply chain readiness for renewable energy expansion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
Saudi Arabia is aiming to intensify the adoption and the advocacy of their renewable energy sector, to localise 30% in the short term and 60% in the long term of its value chain. To achieve this, a local content market should be large enough to supply the planned 27GW capacity contained with 35+ renewable energy ...
Transitioning Bangladesh to renewable power 
This research analyses the policies required to guide Bangladesh through its sustainable energy infrastructure transformation to support its aspiration of becoming a developed country by 2041. Based on the model outcomes, the research will suggest what renewable share in the energy mix should be progressively elevated in accordance with the future escalation in financial affordability ...
Image-based Fault Detection of Photovoltaic Modules using Machine Learning 
Student: Alois Klink Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy production is the fastest growing form of renewable energy, with forecasts of generation doubling by 2024. This growth is led by a decrease in capital cost, causing the relative cost of PV maintenance to increase, from ~50% of the total cost of UK’s large-scale PV farms in 2019, to ...
Modelling on-shore wind turbine locations 
SERG PhD student Mikey Harper is working on a number of methods to assess the potential for wind turbine development in the UK. As part of this he has produced a map of on-shore wind turbine planning applications to date and has also developed a model for predicting the likelihood of planning success for future sites. To ...
Planning for an offshore wind farm (OWF) is a multi-discipline planning scheme. The main aims of this research are to (a) identify suitable locations in Egypt that have potential for offshore wind power generation and how can these be exploited and (b) design appropriate wind turbine arrays providing clear understanding of the resources, engineering needs, ...
The optimum planning scale to achieve low-carbon cities 
Title:The optimum planning scale to achieve low-carbon cities. Researcher: Michael Harper. Supervisors: AbuBakr Bahaj, Patrick James, David Richards. Abstract Cities are the hubs of society and a vast consumer of energy, with 75% of worldwide energy demand being consumed within them (European Commission, 2014). Despite this large figure, only a small percentage of this energy is produced within cities, ...
Energy Performance and Thermal Comfort in a High-Rise University Halls of Residence 
This project intends to investigate the impact of occupant-related parameters on energy performance using a newly built ‘BREEAM excellent’ University Halls of residence building as a case study. More specifically, it will address the challenge of achieving energy efficiency and comfortable indoor conditions in a building which accommodates international students with potentially very different and ...
Understanding effects of flow conditions on wakes of tidal turbines through small scale testing 
Title:Understanding effects of flow conditions on wakes of tidal turbines through small scale testing. Researcher: Khilan Shah Supervisors: Luke Myers and AbuBakr Bahaj Abstract Over the past decade many countries around the world have committed to reducing carbon emissions. In order to accomplish this there needs to be an increase in the use of renewable energy. Many places around ...
Impacts of Urban Interventions for the Reinvigoration of Secondary and Tertiary High Streets 
The aim of this work is to understand the impact of small-scale urban interventions on declining secondary/tertiary high streets and how this relates to stakeholders’ perceptions and behaviours. The study also investigates the hypothesis that undertaking small-scale interventions assists in generating a collective approach among stakeholders for the regeneration of secondary retail areas.
Title: Kinetic energy extraction from flows with significant density profiles: the case of the Gulf of California, Mexico Researcher: Carlos Joel Mejia Olivares Supervisors: AbuBakr Bahaj and Luke Blunden Abstract In recent times the demand for electricity has increased considerably throughout the world especially in newly industrialised countries where the economic activity is directly related to energy consumption. In ...
Title: Low Carbon City Strategy Researcher: Yue Wu Supervisors: AbuBakr Bahaj and Luke Blunden Abstract GHG emissions are becoming a global concern. The UK has legally bound a CO2 emission reduction target that by 2050 at least 80% of GHG emission shall be reduced based on the emission level of 1990. Consequently, the local authorities also published their own ...
Transforming typical hourly simulation weather data files to represent urban locations
Title: Micro climate adapted localised weather data generation: Implications to the energy consumption of buildings and sustainable design of cities Researcher: Leonidas Bourikas Supervisors: Patrick A.B. James & AbuBakr S. Bahaj Abstract This thesis has investigated methodologies for the adaptation of airport based simulation weather files to replicate the local micro climate. The objective of this thesis is to propose a simple method for the generation ...
Experimental analysis of tidal turbine arrays. 
Title:Experimental analysis of the influence of proximity to channel boundaries and blockage ratio on far field hydrodynamic effects and performance of tidal turbine arrays. Researcher: Tim Daly Supervisors: Luke Myers and AbuBakr Bahaj Abstract Tidal energy is now the subject of an extensive amount of research. Several studies have clearly demonstrated the significant potential contribution to low carbon electricity ...
Resource Assessment of Large Marine Current Turbine Arrays
Title: Resource assessment of large marine current turbine arrays. Researcher: Danny Coles Superviors: AbuBakr Bahaj & Luke Blunden Abstract The deployment of marine current turbines has the potential to generate a significant amount of electricity in specific locations around the world. This is highly relevant to today’s energy market, where there is a demand to generate an increasing amount ...
Turbulence and Tidal Stream Turbines 
Title: Turbulence and its effects on the performance and wake of a tidal stream turbine. Researcher: Tom Blackmore Superviors: AbuBakr Bahaj & William Batten Abstract The tidal energy resource in the UK is one of the largest in Europe and can contribute to our ever increasing demand for low carbon energy. The technology is still at the development stage ...
Actuator Disc-Rans modelling for tidal turbines 
Title: The accuracy of the actuator Disc-Rans approach for modelling performance and wake characteristics of a horizontal axis tidal stream turbine. Researcher: Matt Harrison Supervisors: William Batten & AbuBakr Bahaj Abstract Tidal stream energy has the potential to supply power with low carbon dioxide emissions, but the technology is still being developed. Horizontal axis tidal stream turbines have seen the greatest development, and to generate ...
A new approach to tidal stream energy resource assessment
Title: A new approach to tidal stream energy resource assessment Researcher: Luke Blunden Supervisor: AbuBakr Bahaj Abstract Tidal stream power generation offers the prospect of predictable, low-CO₂ power at a number of locations around the UK and the world. Previous assessments of tidal energy resources have taken the form of desk studies based on simplified navigational data. Where numerical model data has been used ...