Transport & Separation Laboratory
In the Transport and Separation Laboratory, we pursue multi-scale, multi-disciplinary research in fluid mechanics and multiphase flows, as well as separation techniques and their applications.
In terms of fluid flow research, we use flow visualisation and diagnostics, theory, analysis and parallelised numerical simulations to examine systems that are of central importance to a broad range of industrial and biomedical applications, amongst them fouling in crude-oil processing, haemodynamics, mixing of fluids in pipes and coating flow technology.
Separating molecules is at the heart of many chemical and biological processes, and our work in this area is connected with membranes. This, in turn, involves adopting a holistic approach that ranges from fundamental research into materials synthesis, through membrane formation and transport processes occurring in separations, to process applications of separations which often involve the wider chemical/biological process.
Examples of this approach include the formation of novel polymeric membrane materials with remarkable chemical resistance and permeability, novel hollow fibre membranes made from inorganic materials, developing separation processes for production of chiral molecules and integrating separations into processes for biopharmaceutical production.
Our funding is drawn from a range of sources, and innovation and technology-transfer is an important facet of our research: we have invented processes that have gone on in a short space of time to commercial application at large scale.
Membrane Fabrication and Application
