A PhD project is available with Integrated Studies in Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and their applications.The particular PhD project available is to look at the impact of the environmental conditions on the reliability of fuel cells.

Supervisors: Dr Sarah Dunnett and Dr Lisa Jackson

The impact of environmental conditions on fuel cell performance:

Fuel cells have many applications and hence are exposed to a variety of operating conditions.  This PhD project is based on gaining a better understanding of the relationship between the operating conditions and the reliability of PEM fuel cells. Failure models for the fuel cell will be developed that take into account the environmental conditions, such as extreme heat, moisture etc.  Probabilistic models that govern how components degrade or fail related to the parameters defining their utilisation and environment characteristics, need to be developed, yielding more accurate lifetime predictions.  Models for the cells will be extended and adapted to consider the performance of a stack.

This research will aim to understand the dependence of fuel cell performance upon environment hence enabling more informed decisions to be made upon their use. 

What is a PhD with integrated studies:

• Lasts for four years.
• Has taught modules in the first two years in Science, Engineering, Energy, team building as well as Business, Economics and Management.
• Provides research in Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Technologies.
• Provides a stipend of £14,600 per annum (tax-free) with University fees paid by EPSRC.
• Potential involvement of Industry: Intelligent Energy; Johnson Matthey; Jaguar Land Rover; Air Products.

If you are interested in the above project and require further information please contact Dr Sarah Dunnett, s.j.dunnett<στο>lboro.ac.uk.

Applications are open to candidates with upper second or better in any relevant Engineering and Mathematics disciplines, also Chemical/Material/Biological/Physical Sciences or Economics degrees will be considered. Existing employees with relevant industrial work experience will also be considered. Due to funding restrictions the project is open to UK nationals and EU nationals who have been ordinarily resident in the UK for a minimum of 3 consecutive years before the programme begins.  The start date for the project is expected to be July 2015. To apply, send a full CV with a covering letter of application to: Dr Sarah Dunnett by email: s.j.dunnett<στο>lboro.ac.uk.