PhD Thesis “Industrial process integration concepts for reversibly operated co-electrolysis for syngas production” at AIT

We are Austria’s largest research and technology organisation and an international player in applied research for innovative infrastructure solutions. This makes us a powerful development partner for industry and a top employer in the scientific community. Our Center for Energy in Vienna invites applications for a:

PhD Thesis “Industrial process integration concepts for reversibly operated co-electrolysis for syngas production”

– Center for Energy –

Imagine

In order to combat climate change and to optimally protect the environment, the energy system needs a safe and sustainable transformation. In this context, green hydrogen and its derivates (synthetic gases/ fuels) are important energy carriers to decarbonize the energy infrastructure, heavy industry and the mobility sector.

To accelerate the development of innovative and more efficient technologies for the production of green hydrogen, the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and the Graz University of Technology (TUG) launch a new PhD programme on Reversible High Temperature Electrolysis. The programme offers you the opportunity to conduct your dissertation as part of a team of PhD-students enrolled at TUG, and in collaboration with highly specialized experts of both organizations, AIT and TUG. Thus, you can develop “out-of-the-box” solutions for real-world problems: Let’s make ideas work!

Engage

• You will explore the latest developments on electrolyzing both steam and CO2 for the production of green synthetic gas (syngas CO-H2) and how it could be converted by further downstream catalytic processes into fuels such as methane, gasoline or diesel.
• You will investigate how high-temperature reversible co-electrolysis could be used to mutually convert power and chemicals at elevated temperatures.
• Together with the PhD programme team you will transfer results from the lab-scale solid oxide electrochemical cell (SOEC) stacks to the industrial application.
• You will evaluate optimal operation, SOEC component design, energy and material stream coupling and integration into selected industrial processes via systems simulation approach.

Achieve

• You will develop a workflow for the evaluation of the technology (incl. reversible operation mode) and the comparison with alternative technologies (steam reforming, etc.) in energy consumption, gas quality, flexibility, techno-economy, etc.
• You will showcase industrial relevant applications and scenarios which benefit the most from employing the technology.
• You will engage with the scientific community and get involved with the relevant international working groups.
• Your contributions will be published as scientific journal articles and you will attend important conferences in the field.
• Your innovative ideas will form the basis of future research projects which you will help define.

Your qualifications as an Ingenious Partner:

• Master’s degree in the field of process engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, or a similar relevant field
• Very good knowledge of mathematical modeling in process engineering and numerical simulation methods
• Familiarity with software for process systems engineering and flowsheeting, e.g., Aspen Plus, IPSEpro, gPROMS
• Knowledge of green chemistry, chemical process engineering and energy technology, chemical reaction engineering, thermodynamics and fluid separations
• Knowledge of hydrogen electrochemical production and conversion techniques would be a plus
• Good programming skills, preferably in C/C++, Python, or MATLAB
• High level of commitment and team spirit
• Working proficiency in English

What to expect:

EUR 32.115,30 gross per year, for 30 hours / week, plus additional company benefits. You will be part of our international AIT PhD community and participate in our AIT PhD framework programme. As a research institution, we are familiar with the supervision and execution of PhD theses, and we are looking forward to supporting you!

AIT, the promotion of diversity is important to us – that’s why we are especially looking forward to applications from female students!

Please submit your application documents including CV, cover letter and certificates online at https://jobs.ait.ac.at/Job/194447.

TOMORROW TODAY – WITH YOU?