PhD Studentship: Understanding and Modelling Novel Carnot Batteries Technologies for Large Scale Energy Storage

Position summary:
Energy storage is a crucial element in modern life. The overarching aim of this project is to understand and develop innovative energy storage solutions – called Carnot Batteries – to allow greater use of intermittent renewable energy in Energy-intensive industries such as metals, chemicals, food and drink, paper and pulp, ceramics, glass.
This studentship is funded by The EPSRC Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solution (CREDS).

Supervisory team:
The project will be supervised by: Dr Adriano Sciacovelli (Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham) and Dr Eduardo Martinez-Cesena (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester).
The student will be based at the University of Birmingham with opportunities for short secondments at the University of Manchester and participation to CREDS research and skill development initiatives

Summary of the Project:
Industry is extremely important to the UK and global economy. The products manufactured in the industrial sectors (metals, chemical, food & drink, etc) are integral part to everyday life. However, such sectors are large emitters of CO2 and hard to decarbonise. Little has been done in understanding how energy storage can help industrial processes adapting to highly intermittent renewable energy sources.

The project focuses on understand, develop and assess Carnot Batteries: a class of innovative technologies that combines storage of both electricity and thermal energy, which is particularly attractive for potential industrial applications. A number of Carnot batteries solutions have been proposed, for example: Liquid Air Energy Storage, Pumped Thermal Energy Storage, Chemical Looping Energy Storage. However, little is known about the potential and benefits of Carnot Batteries for storage of energy in industrial processes.

To address such research gap, the project will take a multi-disciplinary approach and the student will be expected to:

1. Develop new Carnot battery concepts integrated with the industrial energy demand, deriving the transient performance of the most promising designs
2. Develop stochastic models (e.g. Mixed integer linear programming) to optimize the deployment and operation of Carnot batteries in industrial processes, large energy districts, and industrial parks
3. Using the methods and models developed, deeply understand the technical and economic factors that facilitate/hinder the applications of Carnot batteries
4. Undertake simulation-based studies of the most promising Carnot battery industrial applications with the aim of maximize techno-economic benefits, subject to uncertainties and different industrial end-user needs

The student will also benefit from attendance and participation to the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solution (CREDS) and its follow up, meetings with industrial partners, developers of Carnot Batteries, and international partners already collaborating with the Supervising team.

Essential requirements:
Applicants should have a first-class degree or good 2:1 (or equivalent) in Chemical Engineering, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computing, Mathematics, or related areas. Suitable backgrounds include, but are not limited to, energy engineering, mechanical engineering, mathematical optimization, and Computer Science. Applicants should be highly motivated individuals with a keen interest in conducting interdisciplinary research.

To apply, see: https://www.creds.ac.uk/call-for-supervisors-for-the-creds-interdisciplinary-energy-demand-studentships/ Contact Associate Prof Adriano Sciacovelli (a.sciacovelli@bham.ac.uk ) and submit your CV. Closing Date: 30 May 2023; early application is highly recommended as position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate is found, which might be before closing date.

Funding

The studentship is available on a competitive basis from the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solution (CREDS) scholarship scheme, covering tuition fees and stipend.

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