Aura Centre for Doctoral Training

Aura CDT Activities

In January 2024, I helped host a visit to the University of Hull by RenewableUK’s Head of Skills for Renewables, Scott Young, and was able to discuss my research with him.

At the most recent Aura CDT Annual Conference, I presented my research and was delighted to win the prize for best Academic Poster.

I have previously acted as the Social Rep on the Aura CDT Student Committe. I was motivated to undertake this role as I am a creative person with good communication skills and previous experience planning and running social events.

Background:

I am a Geography Graduate from the University of Hull. Whilst undertaking my degree I focused my interest on the renewable energy sector allowing me to gain knowledge in this discipline.  I then went on to further my studies, completing an MSc in Renewable Energy, also at The University of Hull. My dissertation focused on small scale wind energy and the availability of this on a community scale. I investigated how three dimension influences and surface roughness would impact the energy generation of wind turbines. Using the WindPro software I was able to map suitable locations for a high yield small scale wind farm which would benefit the local community.

Research Interests:

My research interests do remain similar to that of my master’s degree dissertation project, surrounding the impacts humans are having on our current world and climate and the desperate need for the transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy and in particular wind. I hope that my research will look into the transition from fossil fuels to the use of renewable energies. From the construction stages of the turbine to the decommissioning all whilst involving local communities and the benefits they will gain.

Why you applied for the Aura CDT:

I applied for the Aura CDT as my past research and studies have made me more aware of the urgent need to expand the wind energy sector. As the Earth is warming and the global population is increasing the demand for electricity is growing. The need for a sustainable way to meet this energy demand is to exploit the readily available wind resources we have. My passion for renewable energy and sustainability led me to apply and will allow me to carry out research in my field of interest.

PhD Research:

The rapid expansion of the offshore wind industry has caused an increase in demand to assess the impact that subsurface structures can have on the environment. By the end of 2020, monopiles remain the most used foundation structure with 81% of European turbines installed with monopile foundations. However, a number of hydraulic issues can arise when these are placed on the seabed, one of these been scour.

Scour is the erosion of the seabed around a turbine monopile foundation, the fluid forms vortices which erodes the sediment leaving a scour hole. The removal of sediment weakens the structure and exposes cables, it is important to mitigate against scour on monopiles as for a wind turbine the foundations can account for up to 35% of the total installed cost and these costs will want to be controlled and minimised.

Using physical models within test tanks my research will investigate scour development around a monopile to understand the characteristics and ways in which this can be mitigated by either modifying the flow and not create hard boundaries and shear zones or softening the shear zone. This work will be carried out in partnership with HR Wallingford.

Find out more about this research project

Contact: m.m.bradbury-2015@hull.ac.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maisy-bradbury-185aa4172/