Doctoral student in Biomethane from biomass catalytic pyrolysis - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Project description

Third-cycle subject: Materials Science and Engineering

Biomethane is a renewable vehicle fuel can be produced by the anaerobic digestion routine and the thermal conversion (gasification and/or pyrolysis) routine. One of the technical challenges of the thermal process is catalytic reforming process to crack heavy molecule fractions (or tar) into light fractions. Cracking the heavy fractions (or tar) in the pyrogas into light fraction, as well as adjusting the ratio of H2/CO in the syngas are key issues to convert these syngas into BioCH4. A breakthrough innovation for syngas reforming process including reformer and catalyst will make very big contribution to bring the process into the markets.

In this position, The overall objective is to investigate and develop a novel electrically heated catalytic reformer with 3 D printed catalysts for a compact, flexible steam reforming system for biomethane production basing on biomass pyrolysis with a higher efficiency, a longer lift time, and a lower CO2 emission.. Scope of the work for this job are to develop a new catalytic reformer together with our industrial partners, characterizing the developed catalysts. Then make the pyrovapor cracking test using this developed catalyst at KTH lab scale test reactors and with possible industrial l scale in the future. Finally a conceptual industrial application of the developed system will be designed with energy and mass balance as well as key economic numbers.

Supervision: The doctoral student will be supervised by:Docent Weihong Yang and Professor Pär Jönsson.

What we offer

• The possibility to study in a dynamic and international research environment in collaboration with industries and prominent universities from all over the world.Read more
• A workplace with many employee benefits and monthly salary according to KTH’s Doctoral student salary agreement.
• A postgraduate education at an institution that is active and supportive in matters pertaining to working conditions, gender equality and diversity as well as study environment.
• Work and study in Stockholm, close to nature and the water.
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH.

Eligibility

To be admitted to postgraduate education (Chapter 7, 39 § Swedish Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility in accordance with either of the following:

• passed a degree at advanced level,
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at advanced level, or
• in any other way acquired within or outside the country acquired essentially equivalent knowledge,
• requirements for English equivalent to English B/6, read more here,
• documented knowledge of waste and/or biomass pyrolysis, or gasification , and well catalyst used for biomass thermal conversion,
• knowledge and experience on using all instruments, such as GC/MS, XRD, SEM are considered as a merit.  

Selection

In order to succeed as a doctoral student at KTH you need to be goal oriented and persevering in your work. During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon their ability to:

• independently pursue his or her work
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach and
• analyse and work with complex issue,
• be strongly motivated,
• have good communication skills in English, by speaking and writing (is required to publish and present results at international conferences and in scientific journals).

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal qualities and personal suitability.

Target degree: Doctoral degree

Information regarding admission and employment

Only those admitted to postgraduate education may be employed as a doctoral student. The total length of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education in four years ' time. An employed doctoral student can, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within their role, e.g. training and administration. A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

Union representatives

You will find contact information for union representatives on KTH's website.

Doctoral section (Students’ union on KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

You will find contact information for doctoral section on the section's website.

Application

Apply for the position and admission through KTH's recruitment system. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the advertisement.

Applications must be received at the last closing date at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/entral European Summer Time).

Applications must include the following elements:

• CV including your relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Application letter with a brief description of why you want to pursue research studies, about what your academic interests are and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Maximum 2 pages long)
• Copies of diplomas and grades from previous university studies and certificates of fulfilled language requirements (see above). Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages.
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please provide a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

Other information

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process please read here.

We firmly decline all contact with staffing and recruitment agencies and job ad salespersons.

Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.