Given the rise of shale gas industry there is a need for appropriate monitoring of greenhouse gases (often referred to as "fugitive emissions"). Shale gas drilling sites ("well pads") will need to monitored for health and safety purposes and equally also monitored to ensure efficient operation and minimise production losses. So can these monitoring requirements be coupled with appropriate technology so that these requirements and also that of environmental assurance can be met by one system? To test the feasibility of creating a single, effective area monitoring system the project brings together Trolex and the ReFINE consortium (represented by Durham University). The project will run in three phases. An idealised monitoring profile will be generated through the mathematical modelling of a series of well pad leaks. Based upon this profile the project will assess the cost/sensitivity characteristics of the various current detector technologies and then design a possible sensor array schema. A proof-of-concept technology demonstrator will then be produced to establish the feasibility of the concept. The demonstration will be achieved by performing computer simulations of the behaviour of the sensor array against various well pad leak models to establish the resulting detection rate and characteristics, and by performing a very simple real-world field test using an artificially created point sources of methane. To create an idealised monitoring profile a series of simple dispersal models of point methane leaks on idealised well pads will be established and will be considered by mapping over what area what concentrations would be present as a result of leaks. This modelling exercise creates a "concentration map" which will then make it possible to assess the number of detectors that might be required, and of what type, to give a sufficient probability of detecting a leak, measuring the flux or preventing an accident. This phase will draw upon existing studies and recommendations on the density of flame and gas monitoring in other contexts. From the "concentration map" the best sensor array design will draw on the complete range of available technologies, from ultra low-cost pallistors to sophisticated Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy. The sensor input data, together with sensitivity characteristics, will then be processed through a type of data mining software known as "Predictive Analytics". Predictive Analytics encompasses a variety of statistical techniques that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future, or otherwise unknown, events. To generate data from which it will be possible to test and simulate the developed monitoring scheme a simulated field leaking experiment will be carried out at a suitable onshore, analogue hydrocarbon source (eg. Potteries coal bed methane) and monitored for several days under normal operating conditions to measure a baseline in the available conditions prior to using a gas cyclinder to simulate a safe leak (2.5% methane, 50% of lower explosion limit). To provide data for subsequent simulation tasks the devices will be systematically moved around the site relative to the wind field to assess their spatial detection range. Individual monitoring technologies suffer from two major disadvantages, they cannot provide a sufficient detection limit or quantification of threat, and the lack of algorithms mean they cannot provide the necessary outputs to cover the three basic requirements of health and safety, production control and environmental impact.

The concept behind this project is based on the use of spatial light scattering (SLS) analysis and related optical technologies to enable differentiation of Respirable Crystalline Silica from other ambient dust particles. It will consist of a miniature optical particle sampling chamber that will enable RCS particles to be individually identified, counted and sized separately from the background dust. When coupled with suitable data processing electronics and software to include particle loss mechanisms, density and other factors, the completed detector unit will provide a real-time output of RCS mass concentration in the environment. Being crystalline in nature, fracking sand splinters into particles that have facetted surfaces, i.e. flat mirror-like fractures, and it is this particular characteristic of RCS dust that forms the basis of the project. When passed through an illuminating light beam (such as that from a laser), faceted particles result in scattering patterns which are highly asymmetric about the beam axis, unlike virtually all other particle morphologies. This means that the Centroid of Intensity (COI), or the 'centre of gravity' of the light pattern of an RCS particle lies a significant distance from the axis, in contrast to those of other particles which are close to it. So, by setting a discrimination radius around the axis only facetted particles will be registered. RCS particles may represent a small percentage of the total particle population so a viable sensor would need a high throughput (typically ~ 10,000/second) so calculating the COI using conventional image processing techniques is impractical. Position Sensitive Devices (PSD), offer an ideal solution being low cost and producing accurate X-Y analogue outputs defining the COI of the light falling on the chip. Thus, a simple empirically-determined 'threshold' distance of the COI from the pattern centre allows differentiation of facetted particles patterns. An additional 'orthogonal' optical measurement, such as birefringence or fluorescence, will also be incorporated to provide a high discrimination level and minimize false-positive RCS detection. The project will involve close collaboration between Trolex and the Particle Instruments Research Group at the University of Hertfordshire. The University will be responsible for the sensor technology development, the design of the detection chamber and optics, and laboratory evaluation using prepared dusts. Trolex will be responsible for producing a fieldable technology demonstrator instrument that will enable the detector output to be presented as a real-time RCS density in a real-world environment.

The unique way that light interacts with magnetic/non-magnetic metal ultra-thin films with thicknesses less than 1/5000th the width of a human hair has recently been shown to offer a route to producing novel sources of radiation with wavelengths that cover a wide range stretching from the mid- to far- infrared. This emission covers the THz region that lies between the microwave and the infra-red wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum; a wavelength range that remains difficult to cover, but has an enormous potential for a diverse range of applications. For example, THz radiation is particularly useful for security screening of people at airports due to its non-ionising properties, as well as for looking at the spectral fingerprints of materials including explosives, drugs and dust particles. The atomic properties of interfaces are well known to be critical to the functionality of many technologically important devices, examples include spin-torque transfer magnetic random-access memory (STT-MRAM), the sensors and media used in hard disk drives and new, artificial multiferroics. This project is focused on developing much needed understanding of how the emission process from ultra-thin magnetic structures depends on the material properties. By gaining understanding of how the underlying mechanisms are responsible for the emission process we will be able to demonstrate commercially-viable emitters. More specifically, the first emitters will be realised that operate without the need for an external magnetic field, overcoming the limitation this requirement currently imposes on the active emitting area and output energy. THz radiation also provides a currently untapped approach to investigating spin-based devices. The knowledge gained in understanding the relationship between material properties and THz emission will prove invaluable in the design of spintronic devices being developed for the next generation of data storage devices. The overall goal is the development of sources of THz radiation that will have impact in a number of future application areas, in particular when looking at the spectral fingerprints of materials for detecting dangerous gases and dust particles which present serious health and safety concerns in areas such as the mining industry. Hence, the development of well-understood spin-based emitters would have a direct impact on UK economic success by enabling the development of new applications of THz radiation and spin-based devices that will add to the technological advancement of society.

An aerosol consists of solid particles or liquid droplets dispersed in a gas phase with sizes spanning from clusters of molecules (nanometres) to rain droplets (millimetres). Aerosol science is a term used to describe our understanding of the collective underlying physical science governing the properties and transformation of aerosols in a broad range of contexts, extending from drug delivery to the lungs to disease transmission, combustion and energy generation, materials processing, environmental science, and the delivery of agricultural and consumer products. Despite the commonality in the physical science core to all of these sectors, doctoral training in aerosol science has been focussed in specific contexts such as inhalation, the environment and materials. Representatives from these diverse sectors have reported that over 90% of their organisations experience difficulty in recruiting to research and technical roles requiring core expertise in aerosol science. Many of these will act as CDT partners and have co-created this bid. We will establish a CDT in Aerosol Science that, for the first time on a global stage, will provide foundational and comprehensive training for doctoral scientists in the core physical science. Not only will this bring coherence to training in aerosol science in the UK, but it will catalyse new collaborations between researchers in different disciplines. Inverting the existing training paradigm will ensure that practitioners of the future have the technical agility and confidence to move between different application contexts, leading to exciting and innovative approaches to address the technological, societal and health challenges in aerosol science. We will assemble a multidisciplinary team of supervisors from the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Cambridge, Hertfordshire, Imperial, Leeds and Manchester, with expertise spanning chemistry, physics, biological sciences, chemical and mechanical engineering, life and medical sciences, pharmacy and pharmacology, and earth and environmental sciences. Such breadth is crucial to provide the broad perspective on aerosol science central to developing researchers able to address the challenges that fall at the boundaries between these disciplines. We will engage with partners from across the industrial, governmental and public sectors, and with the Aerosol Society of the UK and Ireland, to deliver a legacy of training packages and an online training portal for future practitioners. With partners, we have defined the key research competencies in aerosol science necessary for their employees. Partners will provide support through skills-training placements, co-sponsored studentships, and contribution to taught elements. 5 cohorts of 16 doctoral students will follow a period of intensive training in the core concepts of aerosol science with training placements in complementary application areas and with partners. In subsequent years we will continue to build the activity of the cohort through summer schools, workshops and conferences hosted by the Aerosol Society, virtual training and enhanced training activities, and student-led initiatives. The students will acquire a perspective of aerosol science that stretches beyond the artificial boundaries of traditional disciplines, seeing the commonalities in core physical science. A cohort-based approach will provide a national focal point for training, acting as a catalyst to assemble a multi-disciplinary team with the breadth of research activity to provide opportunities for students to undertake research in complementary areas of aerosol science, and a mechanism for delivering the broad academic ingredients necessary for core training in aerosol science. A network of highly-skilled doctoral practitioners in aerosol science will result, capable of addressing the biggest problems and ethical dilemmas of our age, such as healthy ageing, sustainable and safe consumer products, and climate geoengineering.