Profile
Kelly Walker
Curriculum Vitae
-
Work History:
ALSTOM (a French engineering company)
-
Current Job:
I improve the combustion of biomass and coal in the e.on power stations in France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain….
-
Employer:
E.ON
-
My Work
As a combustion engineer it is my responsibility to generate electricity from coal & biomass more efficiently.
-
Read more
Everybody needs electricity… Think of a world without electricity??
Working as a combustion engineer, I help to improve the performance of coal-fired electricity (the power stations have big boilers and the steam that cannot be condensed is released from the big egg-cup like structures that have steam coming out of them making clouds!).
A key part of the process is the combustion of coal (or biomass) to make huge flames that emit radiation to heat steam to very high temperatures and pressures, that drive a steam turbine. The combustion process is very complicated as it occurs in milliseconds at very high temperatures (>1200 deg C). The more efficient the combustion process is, the less coal is required to generate the same amount of electricity.
So everytime you switch on a light, the carbon footprint of that electricity is less if the combustion process is more efficient! -
My Typical Day: One day I am flying on a plane to a meeting in Paris, the next I am making calculations on my laptop, or conducting tests at the power station.
- Read more
-
What I'd do with the money
I would like to produce an ‘Electricity Awareness Film’ that could be presented by teachers in schools, that would also include other visual/physical aids, and a problem-solving quiz. This would assist in ‘engineering our future’ and help to make children more aware of the consequences of their electricity usage.
-
My Interview
-
How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Enthusiastic, Creative, Inspired.
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wanted to ”save the world” and reduce all the pollution and deforestation of the rainforests
Were you ever in trouble at school?
On one occasion (I was walking with a dictionary on my head and the Supply teacher gave me a detention!!)
What is the most fun thing you've done?
Climbed to the top of a Volcanoe in Argentina (South America), over snow, ice, giant lava rocks…
-