Start Date: June/July 2015
Eligibility: UK, EU
Duration of award: 3 years
Supervisors:
Dr Nigel J. Simms – Reader in Energy Materials
Prof John E. Oakey – Professor of Energy Technology

For UK/EU applicants, this studentship will provide a maintenance bursary of £15,000 p.a. (tax free) plus fees* for three years

This PhD will address issues arising from fuel flexibility, including but not limited to changes in the composition of deposits forming on heat exchanger surfaces, the related impact on heat transfer and the risk of unexpected corrosion, the impacts on gas cleaning performance and the resulting emissions to air. The PhD student will be involved in:

• Running pilot-scale tests to assess the impact that different fuel sources (mixed coal-only feeds, mixed biomass-only feeds and co-firing, fired as blends and sequentially) have on the physical (e.g. reflectivity), thermal and chemical properties of deposits on heat exchangers, flue gas and fly ash properties.
• Improving the scientific understanding of the interactions between the firing of different fuels as load varies and flue gas/fly ash compositions and the formation of deposits on heat exchangers
• Developing improved models for deposition processes in different combustion environments and thus identifying the preferred operating windows for plant as well as ‘flagging up’ fuel stocks to be avoided.

This PhD will form part of a large, EPSRC-funded project (Flex-E-Plant), which aims to enable the development of more flexible and efficient power plants for the UK.  Research relating to the deposition and combustion processed will be student-led under the guidance of academic and industrial supervisors. The student will work with a range of other researchers in the Institute and Flex-E-Plant consortium (including industrial collaborators such as E.ON, RWE and Doosan Babcock). The consortium has bi-yearly progress meetings and partners within this project are expected to work closely together. By the end of their PhD, the successful student will have presented data to numerous review meetings, disseminated their results at international conferences, and published papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Entry requirements:

Applicants should have a first or upper second class UK Honours degree (or equivalent) in chemical engineering, materials science, physics, engineering or a related discipline. A Master’s degree relating to power generation, fluid dynamics, heat & mass transfer, chemical engineering and/or metallurgy is also desirable, but not essential.

Funding:

*Funding is available for UK/EU students to cover tuition fees and maintenance.

How to apply:

If you are eligible to apply for this research studentship, please complete the online application form. Reference CRAN1058

Informal enquiries can be sent to:

Dr Nigel Simms - Email: n.j.simms<στο>cranfield.ac.uk; Tel: + 44 (0) 1234 752954