Alexander Murray DPhil (Oxon) MEng MRes, CEng (MIMechE)

Dr. Alexander Murray currently holds the post of Principal Researcher and Engineering Manager at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute having previously been a Research Fellow. His research focuses on technologies relating to reducing greenhouse gas emission in the aviation industry and the energy and transport sectors more broadly. His research interests include sustainable aviation including hydrogen-based propulsion architectures, advanced gas turbine cooling and material technologies, advanced heat exchanger design, and carbon capture technologies.

Alexander completed his Master’s in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, where he was a member of Wadham College. He then joined the newly established EPSRC CDT in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics at the University of Cambridge where he undertook a Master of Research degree based at the Whittle Laboratory. On completion of this, he returned to the University of Oxford to undertake his Doctor of Philosophy degree under the supervision of Professor Peter Ireland at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute. His doctorate research was performed in collaboration with Rolls-Royce plc and investigated novel cooling technologies for gas turbine applications.

Alexander’s research interests focus on technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the aviation industry and energy/transport sectors more broadly. This includes investigating hydrogen-based prolusion architectures as a basis for sustainable aviation. His research – in collaboration with industry and academic partners – also focuses on increasing the efficiency of current gas turbine engines via both advancements in turbine cooling systems and the use of advanced materials. Such advancements in turbine cooling potentially permit significant reductions in engine fuel consumption, thereby reducing carbon emissions. He is also involved in investigating carbon capture technologies such as direct air capture that have the potential to reverse the effects of climate change.

More generally, his research interests pertain to aerodynamics and heat transfer, with emphasis on both experimental and computational methods. On the latter, he has an active interest in developing low order methods that can drastically reduce computational resource requirements, helping to vastly reduce the costs associated with heat exchanger system design such as those employed in turbine applications.

Alexander's research interests have also branched out into investigating ceramic matrix composites and the mechanical strength of turbine cooling systems under thermal load in collaboration with the University’s Solid Mechanics Group. The work is relatively novel in the field and something he hopes to further develop. Additionally, he is involved in a multi-institutional research project exploring methods of manufacturing high performance cooling systems.

As part of his current role, Alexander is Chief Engineer, and researcher, on the multi-institutional, £7.34 million UK-EPSRC Transpiration Cooling Systems grant.

• LH2GT (Innovate UK)

  Co-Investigator and researcher in liquid hydrogen as a fuel in sustainable aviation applications

• Carbon Capture Systems

  Co-Investigator and researcher into carbon capture systems such as direct air capture

• EPSRC Transpiration Cooling Systems

  Research into the aerothermal and mechanical aspects of transpiration cooling systems for gas turbine applications

• Sustainable Aviation
• Hydrogen Propulsion Systems
• Aerothermal Design
• Turbine Cooling Systems
• Heat Exchanger Design
• Carbon Capture System
• Heat Transfer Experimental Methods
• Computational Fluids Dynamics and Low Order Methods
• Thermomechanical Design