The Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI) concentrates the College of Engineering’s strength in the energy sector.
The Institute is supported by industry sponsors. It focuses on the safety issues surrounding the development and expansion of existing energy processes, as well as the safe deployment and integration of new ‘green’ energy technologies.
The design and construction of a new 3,800sqm building will enable the University to develop the quality and scale of its research efforts in the areas of energy and safety.
The Institute has an international focus and is a constituent member of the Global Energy Safety Institute (founded in Houston, Texas in 2011), a sister Institute of the Energy and Environmental Systems Institute at Rice University, Houston and an associate of the National Corrosion Research Centre at Texas A&M (supported by BP in North America).
This builds on the existing long-term strengths within College of Engineering in the area of petroleum and chemical processing, particularly in terms of computational science (rock fracture modelling and fracking’) and corrosion.
It is supplemented by more recent research success in marine energy, nuclear, tidal, advanced water treatment (‘fracking’ post-treatment and separation), materials, crisis management and more novel areas such as photovoltaic (PV) and nanotechnology.