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Staff Profile

Dr Yongliang Yan

Research Associate

Background

Summary


Dr Yongliang (Harry) Yan is a Research Associate in the School of Engineering, where he focuses on scaling up a novel chemical looping concept for low-carbon hydrogen and sustainable fuel production.

Dr Yan holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lincoln, where he specialised in CO₂ mitigation technologies for Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plants. He subsequently completed a PhD in Energy and Power at Cranfield University in 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Ben Anthony and Dr Peter Clough, where he was awarded the prestigious Lord Kings Norton Medal Prize.

With expertise in chemical and energy process engineering, Dr Yan specialises in gas-solid reactions, reactor design, process simulation and optimisation, and techno-economic analysis. He has a strong focus on sustainable fuel and clean energy production. His research further encompasses the application of AI in carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) and the development of advanced materials for energy systems.

Dr Yan’s research interests span high-temperature solid-looping processes for hydrogen and synthetic fuel production, energy storage, advanced combustion of low-carbon fuels, gas-to-liquid conversion for methanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), industrial pollutant control, and technical, economic, and environmental analysis. He actively seeks collaboration opportunities with academic, industrial, and governmental partners to accelerate these advancements and drive innovative solutions for a sustainable energy future.


His publications are on Google Scholar and Scopus, and his research activity is updated on LinkedIn.


Employment History


02/2021 – Present Research Associate, Newcastle University

·        Scale up the chemical looping water-gas shift reaction for clean hydrogen production (Supervised by Prof Ian S. Metcalfe, RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies)

·        Lead engineer in reactor design, installation and operation

·        Project Management

05/2023-07/2023 Visiting Researcher at SINTEF Industry

·        Visiting researcher in OxHyPro project "Novel oxygen carriers in sustainable hydrogen production"

·        Material synthesis and experimental investigation of chemical water and CO2 splitting.

09/2017 – 11/2020 Research and Teaching Assistant, Cranfield University

·        Research assistant in HyPER Phases 1 & 2 – Process simulation and optimisation to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of SE-SMR for H2 production, which supported the team to secure the funding for the pilot plant for H2 production.

·        Prepared the teaching and learning materials for Advanced Reaction Kinetics for Energy, Energy from Biomass and Waste and Thermal Energy Storage modules.

·        Supervised MSc/PhD students for lab work

09/2019 – 01/2020 Research Associate at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

·        Develop a new framework for finding promising oxygen carrier candidates for CLC.


Professional Memberships


Early Career Researcher (ECR) of the UKCCS Research Centre.

Associate Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (AMRSC)

Associate Member of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (AMIChemE)



Research

Research


Dr Yan’s research interests are in CO₂ capture and utilisation, clean hydrogen production, sustainable fuel production and conversion, cost-effective energy storage, industrial pollutant emissions control, probabilistic techno-economic performance assessment, and the application of machine learning in materials science and energy engineering. He also provides consultancy in power and industrial decarbonisation, CCUS clusters, energy storage, and hydrogen and sustainable fuels for government and industry.

He is currently working with Prof. Ian Metcalfe on scaling up a novel chemical looping concept for efficient low-carbon hydrogen and sustainable fuel production, supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering through a Chair in Emerging Technologies Award entitled “Engineering Chemical Reactor Technologies for a Low-Carbon Energy Future.”

His publications are on Google Scholar and Scopus, and his research activity is updated on LinkedIn.


Research Grants and Awards

  • 2024 - Present: UKCCSRC Flexible Funding, “Large language models for high-throughput discovery of novel metal oxides for carbon capture,” Co-Investigator, ~£10k.
  • 2022 - 2023: UKCCSRC Flexible Funding, “Machine Learning for Perovskite-based Oxygen Carriers Development in Chemical Looping Hydrogen Production,” Principal Investigator, ~£10k.

He has also received funding and support from the Chalmers University of Technology, SINTEF Industry, British Council, Cranfield University, and Erasmus Support Bursary.


Teaching

Dr Yan supervises master’s, PhD, and visiting students on their research projects.

Publications