The Environmental and Fluid Modelling Group (EFMG) specialises in the experimental characterisation and modelling of porous materials.
The standard approach adopted by the research group uses a combination of high precision instrumental techniques to obtain void structure information spanning the micro (<2 nm) to macro scale (>50 nm), which is then explicitly modelled using the in-house software, PoreXpert, and other modelling tools.
EFMG has contributed major advances in the knowledge of many porous materials including:
- The study of behaviour of pollutants and nutrients in soil; including the change of soil structuring under clover and its consequences for leaching, and the extent of migration of cable oil through soil.
- Modelling of high-performance filters for environmental, industrial and medical applications.
- Modelling of processes involved in the production of high-performance carbonate- based paper coatings.
More recently, the group produced high-impact research quantifying and modelling the effects of radiolytic oxidation on the porous structure of nuclear graphite in the core of the Advanced Gas-Cooled nuclear reactors. Over the past few years, this research has been awarded around £1 million in industrial funding, and it will play an important role in the safety cases for lifetime extension of the fleet of nuclear power plants in the UK.
