The last time I posted something it was mid-March and my wife had triumphantly returned from STEM for Britain. Fast forward a week or two, and well, we all know what happened. Evidently a few months have passed and the lack of a train ride on which to write has taken its toll on my blog activity. So, as we now settle into the so-called ‘new normal’, I thought it was about time I got back to it.

Easing myself in gently, I wanted to talk about last week, which involved a new experience for me - my first online conference! The conference was Rankine 2020, which marked the anniversary of William Rankine’s birth, and focussed on Advances in Cooling, Heating and Power Generation. Within the conference I presented my work exploring working-fluid selection for organic Rankine cycles. More on that later perhaps…

I must admit I entered into the conference being a little unsure of what to expect, but it turned out to be a great experience and the organisers did a great job in organising an interesting event. There were some excellent talks and keynotes, interesting discussions, and opportunities for networking. Some of the nice things about attending a conference – visiting a new city, enjoying some culture and eating too many biscuits – are arguably missed. But, a pre-recorded presentation made for a slicker presentation, and removed any pre-presentation nerves, and all the cost and air miles associated with attending were removed - this last point is particularly relevant considering my research is primary aimed at sustainable energy production…

Would I honestly say I enjoyed it as much as a face-to-face conference? Probably not.

But, does it facilitate a far more accessible (both physically and financially) and environmentally-friendly way to disseminate your research to the community? Absolutely.

Would I attend another? Yep.

Will they be here to stay? Let’s wait and see. But for the sake of the environment I would like to think so.

R2020_Title

The work presented was entitled “Fluid selection for small-scale Rankine cycle plants: Can you draw some lines in the sand?” and attempted to identify general guidelines for fluid and cycle selection for small-scale Rankine cycle power systems based on application.

R2020_Res

Twenty fluids were compared within 40 different applications and given a mean score (green diamonds) ranging from best performing (1) to worst performing (20).