Biography
Niall English obtained BE and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin in 2000 and 2003 - specialising in energy-conversion processes, gas engineering, electric fields, and simulations. During 2004-2007, Niall performed research on hydrates, energy storage, and pharmaceutical simulation at the US DOE and in industry. Niall commenced his academic career at UCD Chemical Engineering in 2007, where he is a professor since 2017. His interests encompass nanoscience (such as nano-bubbles), energy, and materials. He has a special interest in water, whether in bulk, at interfaces or in (nano-)confined systems. He founded two campus spin-out companies, BioSimulytics and Aqua-B. Prof. In recent years, computer simulations of hydrate structure and dynamical properties, as well as of hydrate nucleation and formation, have been carried out by various workers in the simulation community. Indeed, advances in hydrate science and engineering demand parallel progress in molecular-level understanding. English and co-workers have been carrying out molecular simulations of a variety of clathrate hydrates since 2001-02, including methane, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. This has focussed, on the one hand, on equilibrium properties, structure, thermal conductivity and thermodynamic properties. On the other, kinetics of formation and dissociation have been investigated, including under the effect of external electromagnetic fields, and also using ab initio simulation methods. Chez iCRAG, Prof. English is working on gas hydrates for water treatment, fundamental characterisation, and he is also working on gas storage (hydrogen, CO2) using various media, including hydrates. His group use both simulation and experimental methods to do so.
Clathrate hydrates are non-stoichiometric crystalline inclusion compounds in which a water host lattice encages small guest atoms or molecules in cavities; the empty lattice is thermodynamically unstable, and its existence is due to hydrogen bond stabilisation resulting from the enclathration of the trapped solutes in its cages. Typical solute molecules would include hydrogen, neon, krypton, argon, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, ethylene oxide, and various natural gas formers, such as, inter alia, methane, ethane, propane and cyclopropane, or mixtures thereof. Methane hydrates are the most widespread type of clathrate, and are thought to exist in nature primarily as type I in the permafrost and deep ocean regions. Clathrate hydrates are found naturally in permafrost and deep ocean regions. The Japanese government's recent success at direct hydrate production with a depressurisation method at the Nankai Trough is indeed noteworthy. However, given methane's circa 20-fold-greater propensity to retain heat in the atmosphere vis-a-vis carbon dioxide, even small releases of methane as a result is a rather sobering prospect. Clathrate hydrates also block gas transmission lines, often at temperatures above the ice point. Indeed, flow assurance for natural gas transport and potential carbon-dioxide sequestration has become one of the most challenging aspects for the gas industry.
https://people.ucd.ie/niall.english
Role
- Funded Investigator
Institution
- UCD
Research Area
- Earth Resources
Expertise
- Offshore basins
