BP Russia and the Skolkovo Foundation are pleased to announce an agreement today to set up a major research collaboration with Russia’s Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, one of the world’s largest research centres, specialising in catalysis, and Imperial College London, one of the world’s leading universities.
The parties will now work together to define a three to five year GBP 9.3 million energy efficiency research programme which will, subject to the conclusion of the collaboration agreement, be co-funded by BP Russia and the Skolkovo Foundation.
The partnership will focus on improving efficiency in the use and recovery of thermal energy in the oil and gas industry, with a particular emphasis on refining processes.
The programme will consist of research and technology development in a number of areas, including heat exchange equipment and processes, novel catalysts, fouling mitigation technologies in heat exchanges and pipelines, energy recovery and waste heat recycling.
The agreement was signed in Moscow on December 21st by David Peattie, Head of BP Russia, and Vasily Belov, Executive Director of Skolkovo Foundation Energy Efficiency Cluster.
Head of BP Russia David Peattie said: “We are very pleased to be involved with this very important research programme. Improving heat exchange technology is very important for the environmental efficiency of the oil processing industry. We are very pleased to team up with Skolkovo to fund Boreskov and Imperial, two of the world’s leading research institutes in this key research programme”.
Vasily Belov, Executive Director of Energy Efficiency Cluster of Skolkovo Foundation said: “The Skolkovo Foundation is pleased to announce the start of the joint project by Imperial College London and Boreskov Institute of Catalysis. The teams of both institutions will focus on research on efficiency of both heat exchange and catalysis processes. The project may significantly impact the refining industry by potentially decreasing its energy losses by 15 per cent. We view involvement of BP as a significant step to enhance cooperation between academia and industry that would ensure viability and practicality of the research”.
Boreskov Institute of Catalysis director, academician Valentin Parmon said: "We believe, that combining our experience in development and utilization of catalysts and catalytic processes with experience of Imperial College in chemical technologies would lead to fundamentally new approaches in advancing energy efficient technologies of processing carbon fossil fuels.
The agreement, initiated by the Skolkovo Foundation, is setting an extremely important example (including for Russian companies) of support, provided to fundamental research and innovation by leading international corporations”.
Professor Sir Keith O’Nions, FRS, Rector of Imperial College London, added: “The College has a strong track record working with the oil industry across the globe to help them to optimise their performance, increase their efficiency and decrease the impact of CO₂ emissions. We look forward to working with our partners on this important project, which could translate into real energy savings and improvements for the environment in Russia and beyond.”
It is intended that the Boreskov Institute will provide organisational structure to carry out the programme with Imperial College and that BP Russia will provide a practical industry input and access to operations for field testing, as appropriate.
