Doctoral student in pyrolysis and gasification of residual biomass - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Project description

Third-cycle subject: Chemical Science and Engineering

This PhD project will focus on identifying and testing suitable bed materials that can act as catalysts and heat carriers in fluidized bed reactors. The research is of importance to further develop and improve fast pyrolysis and gasification processes for effective and sustainable conversion of waste biomasses.

The PhD candidate will:

• characterize different bed materials before and after using it in pyrolysis and gasification processes
• conduct experimental trials in a 5-kW fluidized bed reactor
• analyze product compositions. Examples of analysis and characterization techniques are GC/MS, HPLC, GPC, FTIR, H-NMR, ICP-OES, SEM-TEM, BET, TGA/DSC with SID, TPD/TPO/TPR, etc.

The PhD candidate will contribute to two research projects:

• Increasing bio-oil yield and quality in fast pyrolysis of ash-rich forest residues through novel in-situ ash management – funded by the Swedish Energy Agency
• ABTOMAT - utilization of aluminum-containing raw materials to produce aluminum metal, other metals, and compounds by utilization of waste from alumina industry as bed materials in gasification - funded through ERA-MIN 3 EU Co-fund.

In your research, you will collaborate with researchers at KTH, Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Technical University in Wien/BEST (Austria), and the technology owner BTG/BTG-BTL (The Netherlands). You will also have the opportunity to collaborate with partners in the international consortium of the ABTOMAT (ERA-MIN 3 EU Co-fund project) project.

Supervision: Klas Engvall (Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, KTH)  is proposed to supervise the doctoral student. Shareq Mohd Nazir (KTH), Efthymios Kantarelis (KTH), Frederico Marques Penha (KTH) and Marcus Öhman (Energy Engineering, LTU) is proposed to co-supervise. Decisions are made on admission

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.
• Teaching is part of duties as doctoral student.
• You will be able to present the results at national and international conferences /workshops. You will also present results during project consortium meetings.

Admission requirements

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 second cycle degree (for example a master's degree),
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 second-cycle higher education credits, or
• acquired, in some other way within or outside the country, substantially equivalent knowledge

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6, read more here

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
• analyze and work with complex issues.

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal competency. 

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.Copies of originals must be certified.
• 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.