PhD Scholarship: Mitigation of GHG and Ammonia Emissions from Pig Production Buildings via Design and Control of Ventilation and Manure Management

Applicants are invited for a PhD Fellowship/Scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Civil and Architectural Engineering programme. The position is available from 01 June 2023 or later.

Title:

Mitigation of GHG and Ammonia Emissions from Pig Production Buildings via Design and Control of Ventilation and Manure Management

Research area and project description:

A key sustainability target of 21st century is to evaluate and reduce the environmental impacts associated with livestock production, while addressing the increased demand for meat production (European_Commission, 2020). Consumption of pork meat is expected to increase by 40% in 2050 because the global population could reach almost 10 billion by 2050. The rapid development of pig farming has a tremendous impact on the global environment. The increased pig production may further increase its contribution to GHG emissions and it therefore cannot be neglected.

Denmark is ranked at 12th globally for pig production and the world’s largest exporter of pigs, which accounts for 35% of the world’s annual pig exporter (FAO statistics). Although the pork production is the second largest contribution to GHG emissions among livestock productions, accounting for around 10% of CH4 emissions in Denmark, the methane conversion factor of liquid slurry for swine reaches 13.92% comparing to 4.82% for cattle. It indicates that there is a large potential to reduce the methane emission from slurry pit of pig houses in order to contribute in achieving the goal of being climate neutral by 2050. Meanwhile, the agricultural sector is the main contributor of NH3 emission, which accounts for around 90% of the total NH3 emission in Denmark. Although NH3 is not considered as a GHG, it is an environmentally concerned emitted gas and the biological reaction of NH3 itself can promote the formation of secondary pollutants such as N2O, which has a large greenhouse warming potential (1 g N2O emitted equals 298 g CO2eq).

This PhD project is supported by Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD). It is well known that manure management, ventilation systems and flow patterns above the emission surfaces influence gaseous emissions significantly. The applicant is expected to investigate how to design and control the ventilation systems and manure management systems simultaneously so that the emissions of GHG and ammonia can be mitigated. Both on-site experimental tests and numerical simulations are to be conducted. The successful applicant has the opportunity to work in an interdisciplinary team where both researchers and industrial partners will participate in the activities of the project.

Project description. For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above, and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:

Applicants must have a relevant Master’s degree with background in Building Ventilation Systems, Biosystem Engineering, Agricultural Engineering relevant to Environmental Control of Livestock Production Buildings or other related disciplines. It is expected that the applicants have fundamental knowledge in Building Ventilation Systems, and Environmental Control of Livestock Production Buildings. It is an advantage if the applicants have experience of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling and/or of on-site experimental measurements.

The applicants should be thrilled in working in an interdisciplinary environment with multi academic and industrial partners, where research institutions and companies will participate in this project.

Additionally, it is expected that the applicants are able to logically write and fluently communicate in English. It is an advantage that the applicants have participated in internationally conferences and/or published articles in international journals.

Place of employment and place of work:

The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Inge Lehmanns Gade 10, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.

Contacts:

Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact Associate Professor Li Rong, li.rong@cae.au.dk

How to apply:

Please click the ‘Apply’ button to submit your application. 

Application deadline is 8 February 2023 at 23:59 CET. Preferred starting date is 01 June 2023.

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide.

Please note:

• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.