- Imperial College London equips students with hands-on experience in cutting-edge Carbon Capture technology through a unique pilot plant.
- STEM education, emphasized at ICL, is crucial for advancing the energy transition economy, providing future engineers with necessary skills.
- AI-enhanced monitoring systems and advanced control technologies are integral to improving CCS efficiency and preparing a skilled workforce for net-zero targets.
CARBON capture and storage (CCS) has been identified by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as a key contributor in reaching net- zero emissions targets. Its Net Zero Roadmap states that up to 400 mega-tonnes of CO2 emissions could be captured annually if all carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) systems currently in development are operational by 2030.
CCS works by capturing emissions at source, before they are released into the atmosphere, but development of the technology has been slow in recent decades.
Since 2012, however, an ABB partnership with Imperial College London (ICL) – extended in 2023 for ten years – has been equipping young engineers with the skills they need to thrive in fields such as carbon capture and other areas of the energy transition economy.
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE OF WORLD-CLASS TECHNOLOGY
ICL boasts the world’s only dedicated carbon capture pilot plant based in an academic institution. Since it opened in 2012, more than 4,500 students have had hands-on experience of the ABB technology solutions there, which include:
- ABB Ability™ System 800xA® for distributed process control
- More than 250 instruments to measure temperature, pressure, carbon dioxide and flow
- ABB’s Ability™ Verification for measurement devices and new ABB Ability™ SmartMaster verification and condition monitoring platform
Together, these systems are equipping students with the skills and experience needed to optimize instrument performance through predictive maintenance.
They are also able to monitor all aspects of the plant process in the ABB Control Room, using the System 800xA.
COLLABORATING TO ENHANCE STEM EDUCATION
While the students are learning invaluable skills, ICL is also benefiting from having its facilities equipped with some of the most advanced control and instrumentation technology available.
The partnership with Imperial College allows us to offer students practical training to prepare them for a career in industry. Meeting emissions targets requires a workforce with the right STEM backgrounds, to respond to the energy transition challenge.
Simon Wynne, Head of Energy Industries, ABB UK & Ireland
When we started the partnership with ABB, the aim was to encourage more people to go into and stay in chemical engineering. One of the ways to do this was to set up this carbon capture plant so we could enthuse students to follow through on the environmental topics they have learnt previously. ABB shares this collective vision.
Dr Colin Hale, Senior Teaching Fellow at ICL
IMPROVING CAPABILITY WITH AI ENHANCEMENT
The capabilities of ICL’s carbon capture plant are to be augmented with the addition of AI-powered video analytics, as part of a project that aims to help industrial companies improve safety, productivity and efficiency.
ABB, ICL and innovative computer vision company Unleash live are collaborating to explore how AI-powered video analytics can amplify human potential and help avoid human errors in industrial plants.
AI tracking of video images can alert the control system if instrumentation is not positioned correctly before a process is started or shut down. For example, it will determine if valves are in the correct position, or detect smoke, fire and other health, safety and environment-related events, such as workers not wearing protective equipment.
A great deal of operational insight can be extracted from images, and we want to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange between industry leaders, startups and academic institutions to address key industrial challenges.
Jean-René Roy, Global Business Line Manager, ABB Measurement & Analytics
AI-powered video analytics allows you to send video feeds from camera systems to the operator workspace and provide actionable insights in real-time, something that otherwise may take hours. This capability is underutilized, and we want to show its potential.
Hanno Blankenstein, CEO of Unleash live
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