Dr Marcus Campbell Bannerman

Internal Memberships

Programme leader for Chemical Engineering.

Research Overview

I apply a wide range of computational techniques to solve engineering problems. This sounds very nebulous but I have worked on a broad range of topics ranging from computational thermodynamics, particle dynamics simulation, and pilot-scale production trials of novel cement formulations to the virtual reality rendering of volumetric datasets and GPU programming. At the heart of it all is the development of engineering simulation software.

Current Research

I am currently working on the production-process optimisation, simulation, and computational thermodynamics of a novel low-carbon cement formulations and traditional Portland cement. I have developed a thermodynamic database for the high-temperature simulation of cement clinkerisation, which is accessible here at http://simcem.com.

A large part of my research is also centred on simulation of molecular and granular particulate systems. As a part of that research I developed a unique and cutting-edge event-driven particle-dynamics package called DynamO. DynamO is a general tool that has already found application in a wide range of systems such as granular dampers, nano-colloidal fluids, and protein folding/helix formation. A major focus of my current research centres around the development a new class of particle models for solids processing systems. Coupled with novel algorithms, it is now possible to simulate process scale equipment with millions of particles in near real-time. An example application is in the full-scale modelling of the solids/granular/heat/reaction processes in cement kilns. For more information, please visit http://dynamomd.org.