Public Funding for B.P.P. Technical Services Limited

This project brings together BPP-TECH and FutureValue to develop a high-level design of a mini-grid solar-hydrogen system with clean water and oxygen production for a hospital facility in the Kikori District of PNG, servicing a remote population of 15,000 people. BPP-TECH will provide the technical expertise for the mini-grid solution, with FutureValue and hospital administrators of Kikori District providing key input data, considering limitations of existing infrastructure and enabling benefits of the system to be evaluated within the local context. The hospital is currently using a weak solar electrical system, with an expensive diesel generator as night-time and back-up power. There is no grid access within the target region, with 25% of households using open fires as a light source. Few households can afford diesel gensets, which are expensive to purchase and run relative to household incomes due to the prohibitive cost of diesel. Other households use small rechargeable (individual) solar lights. The Green H2 system will be modular, with a Plug & Play set-up, minimising complexity of operations and avoiding the need for external expertise to manage the system in the long-term. The produced hydrogen will be used as a clean energy storage solution to ensure a continuous power supply to the hospital facilities when electricity production from solar energy is not possible. The dissipated heat from the electrolysis process will be used to provide the hospital with hot water and the produced oxygen will be used for medical purposes. Benefits would accrue to the remote population through increased medical provisioning from reliable, renewable electricity, clean water, and oxygen for medical purposes, with particular emphasis on women and neonatal health outcomes. Associated benefits may include workforce development opportunities in support of the technology solution. There are four key innovations anticipated with this proposal: 1) develop a novel power flow and energy storage technique for the electrolysis of water using intermittent solar power; 2) use of representative mathematical models of major equipment components at high TRLs (≥ 7) that will enable the system to be rapidly moved to demonstration and exploitation; 3) design a modular system with Plug & Play features to minimise complexity and the need for external expertise to manage it over the long-term; 4) implement an effective way of storing and transporting hydrogen for applications in township and remote urban areas. Successful project implementation will unlock and de-risk future investments in Kikori District and similar regions.

This project aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the maritime industry by developing a carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration (CCUS) system for LNG-powered vessels. In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reported shipping emissions contributed nearly 3% of global GHG emissions, a figure that is projected to explode as globalisation expands. Singapore, the second busiest port in the world, contributes significantly to this. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a cleaner fuel option for ships, but still emits GHGs, albeit lower than traditional fuels. This project brings together BPP Technical Services Ltd ( BPP-TECH) and SEATRIUM MARINE & DEEPWATER TECHNOLOGY PTE. LTD. (SMDTech) for the design of a modular onboard post-combustion CCUS system capable of capturing and storing CO2 from exhaust emissions of LNG-powered ships. The system will utilise novel materials for the solvent/sorbent and advanced manufacturing techniques for the liquefaction and storage equipment. An energy management system will be incorporated into the process model design of the CCUS system to account for waste heat recovery, enhancing its efficiency. Additionally, BPP-TECH will be mapping Blue LNG Corridors to optimise the refuelling time and decongestion of LNG-powered vessels, thereby providing clean air quality along the Singapore Harbour. The corridors will include the review of the integrated port infrastructure capable of safely and efficiently offloading the captured CO2 emissions from the LNG-powered vessels. BPP-TECH and SMDTECH will conduct a comprehensive techno-economic assessment that includes the latest Singapore government tax incentives and carbon credits for the developed onboard CCUS technology. This assessment will help evaluate the costs and benefits of the project, including its potential for revenue generation and climate change mitigation. Adopting this solution could meet the IMO 2030 target of a 30% reduction in GHG emissions in the maritime industry. The project aims to support the logistics of offloading CO2 emissions, reducing overall costs for shipping companies. BPP-TECH will use their expertise in process design, modelling, and simulation in a symbiotic relationship with their Singaporean partner, SMDTECH, leveraging their expertise in the shipbuilding industry. BPP-TECH will validate the developed technology against rival technologies to assess its effectiveness and identify potential improvement areas. The validation will aid in strategising a marketing plan to allow rapid commercialisation of the technology. The project represents an innovative and mature solution for reducing maritime GHG emissions and promoting using LNG as an alternative fuel with significant environmental and economic benefits.

Increasing concerns about climate change, including desertification, requires the development of accessible clean energy solutions for the world's least developed regions. The conversion of the large resource of solar energy in such regions into clean Hydrogen (H2) fuel and fresh water, offers an effective solution. This has a significant impact on gender equality and social inclusion since the collection of wood for cooking fuel and water collection is a burden on women in these societies. Technological improvements are reducing the cost of H2 production, making it increasingly attractive (40% cheaper by 2030 \[IRENA, 2020\]). The public in the UK and abroad are demanding policy changes, and in response, 33 countries have declared a climate emergency \[CEDAMIA, 2021\]. Cost reduction of renewable energy sources will drive the future implementation of decentralised Green H2 production systems in places with abundant renewable energy. The objective of this project is to develop an innovative energy solution for urban areas in Africa characterised by abundant solar energy. The system will integrate modular technologies and a 'Plug & Play' approach to Green H2 and clean water production using intermittent solar power sources. The benefits for the local community are: a) use hydrogen as an energy storage medium to provide continuous power supply throughout the day and night b) additional clean water available to the community c) carbon-free fuel replacing oil-derivatives for heating and electrical appliances d) reducing congestion on the grid with a decentralised power system e) generate hydrogen as cooking fuel and fresh water to alleviate burdens on the female gender. This project is conducted in collaboration with the solar energy company Universo, based in Bandjoun, Cameroon and the local authorities of Bandjoun to demonstrate a clear example application. There are four key innovations: 1) develop a novel power flow and energy storage technique for the electrolysis of water using intermittent solar power; 2) use of representative mathematical models of major equipment components at high TRLs (≥ 7) that will enable the system to be rapidly moved to demonstration and exploitation 3) design a modular system with Plug & Play features to minimise complexity and the need for external expertise to manage it over the long-term 4) implement an effective way of storing and transporting hydrogen for applications in urban areas. Successful project implementation will unlock and de-risk future investments in Bandjoun and similar regions. It will generate new income for BPP and Universo.

BPP-Tech brings over 37 years' engineering experience, consistently delivering innovation to its customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they developed an Air Mass Sanitiser (AMS) which has the capability to continuously sanitise small indoor air spaces with high-occupancy rates (such as GP surgeries) to destroy SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens to reduce the risk of infection. Most experts now agree, primary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (like most respiratory viruses) is through respiratory droplets/airborne viral particles in the air mass, particularly present in crowded/poorly-ventilated spaces. The AMS is now on the brink of commercialisation and will support public-health intervention efforts (vaccination/shielding/track-and-trace) to help the economy return to normal and safeguard against new virus strains and future pandemics. This project will build on this work to develop an 'Industrial-Air-Sanitiser' (IAS), which targets much higher volume spaces (such as factories, large-restaurants, cinemas, museums and indoor farms) to achieve very high-levels of viral kill, targeting both SARS-Cov-2 as well as other problematic viruses (such as avian flu which affects birds and threatens humans through zoonotic mutation) and other unknown virus-strains. The IAS will also be designed for non-pandemic applications aiming to significantly improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), which is a significant cause of damage to human health, disease, premature deaths and workplace sickness. Unfortunately, indoor air can be 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air (due to lack of dilution) meaning if the pollen count or air pollution rate outside is high, it can be significantly worse indoors. Developing the IAS will require significant and radical redesign of the AMS system so it can achieve the requisite air-flow rates for larger indoor spaces. This will involve extensive laboratory testing, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling, prototype building and re-testing to ensure a good design. If successful, this will generate significant revenues for BPP-Tech and lead to significant manufacturing employment (in BPP-Tech and across the supply-chain) in the North East to scale up production to meet demand.

The control and prevention of transmissible infections has been a constant in human affairs for a very long time. However, since the availability of vaccines for common diseases in the nineteenth century, the importance of maintaining infection control techniques in the community has declined somewhat. The emergence of COVID-19 as a serious respiratory illness with an airborne transmission mechanism has exposed this shortcoming; particularly for gatherings in confined environments. The challenge of dealing with these environments will be addressed by bringing to market two linked innovations that will deliver applicable tools in the short term. The two key innovations are: (1) to assemble, integrate and deploy the latest computational science and statistical processing to deliver a quantified risk reduction outcome for all mitigation measures and (2) to incorporate and quantify the effects of active means for reducing infection potential and transmission by virucide and aerosol absorption devices. It is intended that the output from this work will be comprehensive guidance documents with extensive graphics and supporting software. The graphics will be directed at ensuring that lay persons that are not technically or medically qualified can grasp the key outcomes of the work. The supporting software will be user friendly and with the same objective. A further need addressed by this work is to provide tools that will reduce infection risk in environments where there are elderly people and members of ethnic minorities that are known to be vulnerable to COVID-19\. This will have a proportionately higher impact on the health and well being of such groups within the community. Another of the wider needs met by this proposed innovation is to increase the profile generally of infection management in confined environments and make such quantified risk management the 'new-normal'. The innovations in this project have been developed by BPP Technical Services Ltd ([www.bpp-tech.com][0]); a technology and product development company that has the staff expertise, computational tools and experience in developing clean technology services and products. [0]: http://www.bpp-tech.com/

Preliminary results on the diffusion of the novel virus SARS-CoV2 indicate that aerosol particles carrying the virus can remain in the air longer than was originally thought. Whilst it is accepted that large particle droplets from coughs, sneezes and exhaled air would drop to the ground within 2 metres, there is evidence that when the water around very small particle droplets has evaporated, these particles can travel some distances in air currents. A recent study conducted in Finland "(Aalto university; Ville Vuorinen, Antti Hellsten et all.; 6/04/2020)" further states that coronavirus is transported through such extremely small airborne particles. The current Covid 19 emergency has pushed everyone to be more aware of air quality that surrounds us. Indoor environments play a fundamental role in the fight against this novel disease. In past decades, several studies have shown that pollution levels indoors can be greater than in the street of a busy city and have linked poor indoor air quality to serious human health problems, such us cardiovascular disease, anxiety, respiratory problems, cancer and many others. Poor indoor air quality directly affects human defence system, increasing the risk of infection by pathogens. An American study "(J TheGuardian "Air Pollution"; Damian Carrington; 7/04/2020)" shows that air pollution is linked to significantly higher rates of death in people with COVID-19 and to a higher virus spread rate. BPP engineers are developing an adaptation of an existing technology that will remove small airborne water droplets that may transmit SARS-CoV-2 virus loads from air in indoor spaces. This has the potential to further reduce the risk of transmission over and above what is delivered by social distancing and by wearing PPE. This device will be designed for use in hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes and other similar treatment and care locations where an additional layer of virus transmission prevention is desirable. The end point of the project is to obtain a design that can be rapidly put into manufacture in time for contributing to reducing infection transmission rates in the next phase of the pandemic as lockdown restrictions are gradually relaxed.

The public description for this project has been requested but has not yet been received.