Contact Dr Paul Holborn
Areas of expertise
- Computing, Simulation & Modelling
- Safety, Resilience, Risk & Reliability
Background
Dr Holborn is a Senior Research Fellow in System Design for Hydrogen Leakage, Ventilation and Safety working in the Low Emissions Technologies and Combustion (LETC) Group in the Centre for Propulsion and Thermal Power Engineering (School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing). He was appointed as a Visiting Fellow to Cranfield University in 2021 and subsequently joined Cranfield as a member of staff in October 2022.
Dr Holborn received a BSc (Hons) degree in Physics from Southampton University. He subsequently obtained his PhD from University College London, whilst also working as a research assistant, investigating the prediction of flashover in building fires using new computational techniques of nonlinear dynamics. He then worked for the next twenty-five years as first a postdoctoral research fellow and then a senior research fellow in the Explosion and Fire Research Group at London South Bank University as a member of an inter-disciplinary team, employed on a wide range of research projects in the fields of hydrogen safety and fire safety, sponsored by both industry and government.
He has been working in the field of hydrogen safety for the past twenty years, primarily in relation to the UK nuclear industry, supporting Sellafield Ltd to safely manage the hydrogen hazards arising from nuclear decommissioning operations and the storage of nuclear waste materials at Sellafield, and more recently through working on the safety work package of the ENABLEH2 project, examining the feasibility of using liquid hydrogen as a fuel for civil aviation.
Current activities
Dr Holborn's research interests include fire and explosion modelling relating to hydrogen safety and the development of hydrogen safety assessment tools and methods for hydrogen aircraft and airport operations. In his role as Senior Research Fellow in System Design for Hydrogen Leakage, Ventilation and Safety, he is currently working to support the Robustly Achievable Combustion of Hydrogen Engine Layout (RACHEL) project led by Rolls-Royce - a £36.6 million project to develop key technologies and integrated powerplant architecture for a liquid hydrogen gas turbine.
Clients
- Airbus SE
- Airports Council International
- Heathrow Airport Ltd
- Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Sethi V, Sun X, Nalianda D, Rolt A, Holborn P, .... (2022). Enabling Cryogenic Hydrogen-Based CO2-Free Air Transport: Meeting the demands of zero carbon aviation. IEEE Electrification Magazine, 10(2)
- Holborn PG, Ingram JM & Benson CB. (2022). Modelling studies of the hazards posed by liquid hydrogen use in civil aviation. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 1226(1)
- Dinesh A, Benson CM, Holborn PG, Sampath S & Xiong Y. (2020). Performance evaluation of nitrogen for fire safety application in aircraft. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 202
- Holborn PG, Benson CM & Ingram JM. (2020). Modelling hazardous distances for large-scale liquid hydrogen pool releases. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 45(43)
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Holborn PG, Battersby PN & Benson CM. (2020). Ignition of flammable hydrogen/air mixtures by high mass mechanical impact of Magnox contaminated surfaces. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 45(4)
- Ghatauray TS, Ingram JM & Holborn PG. (2019). A comparison study into low leak rate buoyant gas dispersion in a small fuel cell enclosure using plain and louvre vent passive ventilation schemes. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(17)
- Ingram JM, Averill AF, Gomez-Agustina L, Holborn PG, Battersby P, .... (2018). Potential hazard consequences to personnel exposed to the ignition of small volumes of weakly confined stoichiometric hydrogen/air mixture. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 43(50)
- Beasley MG, Holborn PG, Ingram JM & Maidment GG. (2018). Causes, consequences and prevention of refrigeration fires in residential dwellings. Fire Safety Journal, 102
- Ingram JM, Averill AF, Holborn PG, Battersby P & Benson CM. (2018). Surface temperature generation during drop weight mechanical impact and the usefulness of dynamic thermocouple measurements for predicting impact ignition of flammable gases. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 55
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Holborn PG, Battersby P & Benson CM. (2018). Application of Bayesian methods and networks to ignition hazard event prediction in nuclear waste decommissioning operations. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 116
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Holborn PG & Battersby P. (2017). Energy losses during drop weight mechanical impacts with special reference to ignition of flammable atmospheres in nuclear decommissioning: theory and determination of experimental coefficients for impact analysis and prediction. International Journal of Impact Engineering, 109
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Battersby P & Holborn PG. (2015). Ignition of flammable hydrogen in air (and other H 2 /N 2 /O 2 mixtures) by mechanical stimuli. Part 3: Ignition under conditions of low sliding velocity (<0.8 m/s). International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(31)
- Ingram JM, Averill AF, Battersby PN & Holborn PG. (2015). Dispersion of hydrogen releases from a liquid surface and surface bursting behaviour. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(14)
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Battersby P & Holborn PG. (2015). Ignition of flammable hydrogen/air mixtures by mechanical stimuli. Part 2: Ignition under conditions of rust and surface pyrophoric material contamination. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(12)
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Battersby P & Holborn PG. (2014). Ignition of flammable hydrogen/air mixtures by mechanical stimuli. Part 1: Ignition with clean metal surfaces sliding under high load conditions. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 39(32)
- Ingram JM, Averill AF, Battersby PN, Holborn PG & Nolan PF. (2014). Electrostatic ignition of sensitive flammable mixtures: Is charge generation due to bubble bursting in aqueous solutions a credible hazard?. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 92(6)
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Battersby P, Holborn PG & Nolan PF. (2014). Ignition of hydrogen/air mixtures by glancing mechanical impact. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 39(35)
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Battersby PN, Holborn PG & Nolan PF. (2014). Fundamental study of generation of interfacial temperatures with metal surfaces and coatings under conditions of sliding friction and mechanical impact. Transactions of the IMF, 92(2)
- Holborn PG, Battersby P, Ingram JM, Averill AF & Nolan PF. (2013). Modelling the mitigation of hydrogen deflagrations in a nuclear waste silo ullage by depleting the oxygen concentration with nitrogen. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 263
- Holborn PG, Battersby PN, Ingram JM, Averill AF & Nolan PF. (2013). Modelling the mitigation of a hydrogen deflagration in a nuclear waste silo ullage with water fog. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 91(6)
- Averill AF, Ingram JM, Battersby PN, Holborn PG & Nolan PF. (2013). Fundamental study of generation of interfacial temperatures with metal surfaces and coatings under conditions of sliding friction and mechanical impact. Transactions of the IMF, 91(5)
- Ingram JM, Averill AF, Battersby P, Holborn PG & Nolan PF. (2013). Suppression of hydrogen/oxygen/nitrogen explosions by fine water mist containing sodium hydroxide additive. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38(19)
- Holborn PG, Battersby P, Ingram JM, Averill AF & Nolan PF. (2013). Modelling the mitigation of hydrogen deflagrations in a vented cylindrical rig with water fog and nitrogen dilution. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38(8)
- Holborn PG, Battersby P, Ingram JM, Averill AF & Nolan PF. (2013). Estimating the effect of water fog and nitrogen dilution upon the burning velocity of hydrogen deflagrations from experimental test data. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38(16)
- Holborn PG, Battersby P, Ingram JM, Averill AF & Nolan PF. (2013). Modelling the effect of water fog on the upper flammability limit of hydrogen–oxygen–nitrogen mixtures. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 38(16)
- Holborn PG, Battersby P, Ingram JM, Averill AF & Nolan PF. (2012). Modelling the mitigation of lean hydrogen deflagrations in a vented cylindrical rig with water fog. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 37(20)
- Ingram JM, Averill AF, Battersby PN, Holborn PG & Nolan PF. (2012). Suppression of hydrogen–oxygen–nitrogen explosions by fine water mist: Part 1. Burning velocity. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 37(24)
- Battersby PN, Averill AF, Ingram JM, Holborn PG & Nolan PF. (2012). Suppression of hydrogen–oxygen–nitrogen explosions by fine water mist: Part 2. Mitigation of vented deflagrations. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 37(24)
- Holborn PG, Nolan PF & Golt J. (2004). An analysis of fire sizes, fire growth rates and times between events using data from fire investigations. Fire Safety Journal, 39(6)
- Holborn PG, Nolan PF & Golt J. (2003). An analysis of fatal unintentional dwelling fires investigated by London Fire Brigade between 1996 and 2000. Fire Safety Journal, 38(1)
- Holborn PG, Nolan PF, Golt J & Townsend N. (2002). Fires in workplace premises: risk data. Fire Safety Journal, 37(3)
Conference Papers
- Benson CM, Holborn PG, Rolt AM, Ingram JM & Alexander E. (2020). Combined Hazard Analyses to Explore the Impact of Liquid Hydrogen Fuel on the Civil Aviation Industry
- Ghatauray TS, Ingram JM & Holborn PG. (2016). An experimental and CFD study into the dispersion of buoyant gas using passive venting in a small fuel cell enclosure