Super mutant algae declared winner

Two teams from Imperial reached the Final of BP’s Ultimate Field Trip competition, which was held on Tuesday 8 May. The prize of a six week internship at BP Trinidad & Tobago was ultimately won by a team from the University of Strathclyde.

Tasked with outlining how they would make a BP refinery CO2 neutral by 2030, the competition was judged not just on technical content but also presentation skills and teamwork. The teams, having already presented their proposal during the semi-finals, had the chance to present their ideas in a succinct manner to staff from BP as well as field a 20 minute Q&A session from the likes of BP’s Chief Scientist Ellen Williams at the Royal Institution-based final.

The competition was closely fought with each of the three finalists having an advocate on the judging panel. When the audience voted on a separate poster competition, the voting was just as tight, with a split of 34% Aspire (Strathclyde), 33% C-less (Imperial) and 31% G.I.C. (Imperial).

[the competition] was like doing a whole other degree Team Aspire

Team Aspire’s proposal was based on the use of Algae-based bioreactors housed in Lego-brick inspired green houses to break down the CO2, with the side benefit of the algae by-products being of high value in the nutrition industry (e.g. Omega 3 oils). This proposal was so radically outside of the team’s background of marine, ocean and aero-mechanical engineering that “it was like doing a whole other degree”, despite not having had to “take any algae to the lab”. There was concerns raised over whether the super mutant algae posed a threat to wildlife but Aspire defended their proposal: “it’s alright as it’s a naturally occurring mutant.”

G.I.C. (Global Intelligence Consulting) outlined a three-phase approach with membrane technology (based on research being carried out at Imperial) being the first part of their proposal, which culminated in artificial-leaf CO2 break down. G.I.C. stressed the importance that “you won’t go to bed and wake up the next morning with a carbon neutral refinery” and that a flexible solution with immediate action is necessary.

C-Less outlined an efficiency improvement approach with large amounts of retro fitting to existing refineries to cut CO2 emission before finally using carbon capture and storage to remove the CO2 under the North Sea. Whilst retro fitting is not cheap, “looking at the costs makes me wince,” a BP employee commented. The retrofitting also has the advantage of being a partial solution that can be enacted right now rather than waiting for technology to develop.

Despite not winning the competition both teams from Imperial said that it was the chance to put their knowledge into practice and to try and tackle a large-scale problem that was the real reason they entered the competition. “We often get stuck working on problems, we lose sight of the bigger picture,” student Nicholas Kwok said.

if we had the solution we could do it – and that’s the kicker Ellen Williams - BP Chief Scientist

As the winning Team Aspire will be spending six weeks as guests of BP Trinidad & Tobago and will visit BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico, alongside spending time in New Orleans.

Last year’s winners said that whilst they were envious of this year’s prize (“We should have a waited a year”) as it gives Apsire the chance to see BP working on another continent, they were happy not to have to try and tackle this year’s challenge. Despite the challenge of making a refinery CO2 free by 2030, BP Chief Scientist Ellen Williams said “if we had the solution we could do it – and that’s the kicker”.

Both Ellen Williams and David Eyton, Group Head of Technology, were both keen to point out that this competition was more about challenging students than getting research done for free: “BP has looked at all of these ideas”. With the success of the competition over the last three years, next year the competition will be international, meaning that students from Imperial will have even more competition next year if they want to win the “Ultimate Field Trip”.