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ICT user skill is a relatively new subject area and has a limited pedagogical history. To date, most of the discussion has been about ICT within schools, particularly integration of ICT into other curriculum areas, with less emphasis on how to teach user skills, especially to adults. This research explores differing teaching practices within the adult ICT user skills environment from a teacher professional knowledge perspective. By examining the ways that teachers develop, maintain and enact pedagogical knowledge and by determining influencing factors, this investigation contributes to the subject and pedagogical understandings vital to an emergent subject area. A naturalistic, qualitative, multi-methodology approach was used, involving interviews, classroom observations, document examination, and learner questionnaires. This enabled flexible examination and triangulation of the varying influences on practice and the development of emergent models. The research identified seven different teaching approaches but concludes that ‘transmissive’ teaching styles focusing on procedural skills dominate. Activity is almost universally perceived by stakeholders as practical, hands-on and individual. The diversity and nature of the teachers’ professional backgrounds, ambiguous subject goals, perceptions of adults as learners, and strong institutional and examination influences all contribute to this narrow perspective. This thesis questions whether such one-dimensional subject and pedagogical outlooks could impact adversely on outcome, leading to skills deficiencies which may limit economic and/or personal ICT potential. Drawing on problem solving examples from the research the thesis proposes a more holistic approach to create a robust theoretical base for both subject and pedagogy.

On an international basis, coal is used extensively for power generation and this is likely to remain the case well into this century. Although many standard tests are currently used to assess and select coals for combustion purposes, these have proven to be unable to predict coal burnout behaviour. For a power station based on coal combustion, a clear knowledge and understanding of the coals offered in the market is essential to achieve optimum conversions and to meet environmental constraints. There is, therefore, a need to develop suitable and efficient methods and techniques to characterise coals so that the combustion plant performance can be predicted more effectively. In the present work, a series of experiments were conducted to characterise chars obtained from a Drop Tube Furnace (DTF) and a 1 MW combustion rig from which the effect of particle size distribution on coal reactions during devolatilisation and combustion of pulverised coal have been studied. The effect of temperature on coal pyrolysis in the DTF was also assessed. The coals used in this study were mainly from South America whose coals are widely traded internationally, and were characterised by standard tests and a novel automated image analysis technique called the Reactivity Assessment Program (RAP). The morphology of the chars were examined manually and using an automated image analysis technique and thermogravimetric analysis. The aim of this study was to provide a better understanding of the RAP and the automatic image analysis of chars, particularly related to South American coals. The results indicated that temperature significantly influences the coal behaviour during devolatilisation, and hence, the reactivity and morphology of the char generated. The structure and morphology of the char were found to play a significant role in burnout of the residual char, with a significant effect of coal type and particle size. Multiple linear regressions of char properties, such as intrinsic reactivity, morphology, and burnout, against particle size and maceral content of the feed coal were performed. The results showed that there was only a good correlation of high temperature volatiles with macerals. Subsequently when rank was included in the regressions, the correlation remarkably improved in all cases. However, when a novel approach which involved the correlations of char properties with bands of the grey scale histogram (RAP profile) of the coals was performed, much better correlations were achieved. The initial improvement is related, evidently, to the inclusion of the variation of vitrinite structure with rank. The grey scale histogram of coal takes this stage further by including the variation in reflectance for all the macerals. Therefore, the results indicate that the RAP analysis provides a simple and objective technique to predict the combustion behaviour of coals.

Managing technological change in business is difficult. Especially for organisations in technology-based sectors where they are required to rethink and redesign their strategies to ensure they remain competitive in evolving markets. These organisations are focusing their attention on the use of managerial tools and methodologies to help generate a successful business plan. One such tool is Technology Roadmapping (TRM), whose main objective is the alignment of companies’ strategies towards the fulfilment of their business objectives and goals. A better understanding of TRM has resulted in organisations adopting this methodology into their business practices while others perceive its implementation as a complex process requiring a vast amount of information. An adequate framework facilitating the implementation process is lacking. Therefore, in order to address these needs, and driven by the gaps identified in the literature, an integrated framework supporting organisations in the task of implementing technology roadmapping is developed in this research. It is composed of three major elements. Firstly, the implementation lifecycle, that guides users through activities for implementation and application in their organisations. Secondly, an integrated data-knowledge structure composed of a set of models where data, information and knowledge from the market, product, technology, and R&D stages are identified. And finally, an integrated software tool, based on the structure and a selected roadmapping approach, which supports the execution of processes and activities during a roadmapping exercise. The framework is tested and validated in a series of case studies in the aerospace industry. The initial studies, conducted during the development of the framework, allowed refinements and improvements to be implemented prior to the second set of case studies, following the completion of this framework. The results from the case studies confirm the feasibility and usability of applying the developed framework into practice as well as providing recommendations for future work.

There is huge need to develop an alternative to hydrocarbons fuel, which does not produce CO2 or contribute to global warming - 'the hydrogen economy' is such an alternative, however the storage of hydrogen is the key technical barrier that must be overcome. The potential of graphitic nanofibres (GNFs) to be used as materials to allow the solid-state storage of hydrogen has thus been investigated. This has been conducted with a view to further developing the understanding of the mechanism(s) of hydrogen storage in GNFs and modifying the material structure to maximise the amount of hydrogen that can be reversibly stored in the material. GNFs were synthesised using chemical vapour deposition (CVD) with careful control of temperature and gas mixture to create predominately herringbone GNFs from both Iron and Nickel catalysts. Within this, it was found that once GNF growth has been initiated under certain conditions, alteration of those conditions does not alter the fundamental structure of the GNF synthesised, but can increase the carbon yield, although reorientation of the surfaces was observed. The GNFs synthesised were subsequently chemically (acid washed and CO2 oxidised) and thermally treated to remove the residual CVD catalyst and alter their surface structures in an attempt to allow dihydrogen molecules to penetrate and adsorb onto the internal graphene layers. However, it was found that after initial growth, the surface layers of the GNFs became re-orientated parallel to the fibre axis - representing a large energy barrier to adsorption onto the surfaces of the internal graphene layers. By careful use and control of conditions, this re-orientated layer can be removed to yield GNFs with cleaned surfaces. Once GNFs with cleaned edges had been synthesised, these were modified to remove oxygen species from their surfaces. To further develop the understanding of the potential hydrogen uptake mechanisms, Pd particles were introduced to the GNF surfaces to act as catalyst gateways. By carefully controlling the variables of the incipient wetness process, a variety of morphologies and structures were synthesised. This allowed the precise determination of the hydrogen uptake mechanism occurring in samples by Kubas binding, Dissociation or Spill-over mechanisms. All of the GNFs created have had their hydrogen uptake capacities precisely determined using a Sieverts apparatus designed and constructed by the author. None of the samples were found to adsorb any significant levels of hydrogen (>0.1 wt%), regardless of the treatments applied to them – this result has been discussed in light of the existing claims for high hydrogen uptake in GNFs made within the literature. The conclusion of this thesis is that no hydrogen uptake capacity could be observed in the GNFs synthesised during the project, however, the development of the uptake mechanisms and GNF structures has led to suggested modifications that may yield GNFs suitable for storing large quantities of hydrogen (i.e. in excess of US-DOE targets).

Energy is a resource of fundamental importance and if there is one thing that the world is going to need more in the future, it's energy. Increased energy demand is a major factor for the energy industry to invest in innovative technologies by developing processes and products that deliver improved efficiency and environmental performance. With oil continues to satisfy a major part of the energy needs, it is important for oil companies to invest wisely in Research and Development (R&D) projects. Literature is full of methods that address the problem of R&D portfolio selection. Despite their availability, R&D portfolio selection methods are not used widely. This is due to lacking several issues identified by researchers and practitioners. As a result, R&D portfolio selection is still an important area of concern. This research proposes a multi-attribute decision making methodology for selecting R&D portfolios with a case study of implementation of the methodology in the Saudi oil refining industry. Driven by the research question and some gaps identified in the related literature review, the methodology has been modified and improved. The methodology includes methods and techniques that aim to give insights to decision makers to evaluate individual projects and select the R&D portfolio. The methodology is divided into three stages with different steps in each stage by combining and modifying two well-known multi-attribute decision making methods: the Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART) and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The case study describes further methods such as Integer Linear Programming (ILP) and Monte Carlo simulation for generating data to test the validation and operationality of the methodology. It is designed in a step-by-step, easy to apply way and considers the decision making type in a national oil company. It includes the preferences of the decision makers and takes into consideration the multiple, monetary and non- monetary, attributes that ought to be considered to satisfy not only the objectives of the Saudi national company (Aramco), but the strategic goals of the Saudi government as well.

Nearly half the worlds population is dependent on wood as their primary energy source. Therefore with deforestation becoming increasingly prevalent in many regions of the developing world, there is an urgent need to improve combustion efficiency of stoves or to find alternative fuels. Densification of loose biomass residues into briquettes is a means of upgrading the feedstock material. Briquettes are easier to store, more convenient to use and burn at a more steady and controlled rate than loose biomass. This investigation focuses on understanding some of their combustion characteristics and the relationship to the briquette design and manufacture process. The social context of the work is presented through an informal case study considering the potential of briquetting in Ghana. The initial experimental work focuses on developing a process to manufacture newspaper briquettes of consistent quality at low-pressures using a wet technique, and a method to burn them in a controlled way is suggested. These techniques were used to carry out a study on rectangular slab-shaped briquettes, looking at the effect of process variables (density, moisture content and size) on briquette burn-rate. An analytical expression for the normalised burn-rate (NBR) of a briquette in free-air, in terms of these of these variables, was found by numerical fitting. The effect of shape on combustion was also experimentally investigated using cylindrical briquettes with a central hole (holey briquettes) burning in free-air and an analytical expression was derived for their burn rate. The NBR behaviour of sawdust briquettes, rapeseed oil residue briquettes as well as slabs of pine wood was then studied. Rapeseed oil residue has a very different calorific value from that of newspaper, and a method was suggested for predicting the difference in rate as a function of difference in calorific value. In the second phase of the work, a numerical model of pyrolysis was developed. The model assumed that heat transfer through the fuel limited the rate of pyrolysis. The thermal parameters (thermal conductivity, heat capacity and thermal diffusivity) were estimated using a heat probe method, and the kinetic parameters found by numerical optimization. The model was shown to predict, for newspaper briquettes, the experimentally observed size dependent behaviour of the normalised burn rate, and the trend observed for the effect of changes in density. The model was applied to predict the effect of changes in a briquettes thermal parameters on burn rate, and an analytical expression found by numerical fitting. This provides a means of estimating relative changes in burn rate due to changes in fuel properties, and forms the basis for a pyrolysis sub-model for use in stove optimisation. Such a model has the advantage of being able to vary key, easily quantifiable and easily controlled solid biomass briquette properties relative to the behaviour and properties of a well understood fuel such as wood. In the final part of the study, some of the limitations of the numerical model are explored by completing a sensitivity study investigating the relative effect of some of the key assumptions made.