PhD Studentship - Process Industries: Net Zero - Sustainable Methanol from Waste Products

Award Summary

100% fees (UK Home only), a minimum tax-free annual living allowance at the 2026/27 UKRI rate (note that the 2025/26 rate is £20,780), and a research training support grant of £20,000.

Overview

The global methanol market demand has increased rapidly and is forecasted to grow to over 130 MMT by 2030. Compared to hydrogen and ammonia as low-carbon fuel options for long distance maritime routes, methanol fuel tankers are already in action, with multiple international fleets of methanol fuelled vessels.

Over 99% of methanol is produced from steam methane reformation of natural gas, which is an efficient and mature technology, yet it requires high temperatures and has a large carbon footprint.

This PhD project addresses a key challenge: efficiently producing bio-methanol from abundant, high-moisture waste feedstocks that do not compete with land impacts for food production or alternative fuels. The research will focus on hydrothermal processing, an underdog compared to electrochemically derived hydrogen to methanol production, yet with promising potential for disruptive market innovation to regenerate the energy-intensive drying steps typically required for wet biomass sources. Process Intensification strategies will be employed to offering substantial advantages in energy efficiency and process economics. The impact of key operating parameters on hydrothermal processing will be systematically investigated, exploring advanced modelling techniques to produce high quality syngas for methanol production, leveraging facilities at Newcastle University and PuriFire Energy.

The project also offers great opportunities to work with experienced engineers and scientists at PuriFire Energy in:

1. Reactor design optimisation: contribute to the design of the UK’s largest hydrothermal methanol synthesis, exploring advanced modelling techniques to maximize yield and minimize byproduct formation.
2. Scalability Studies: investigate the challenges and opportunities associated with scaling up this technology.

Number of Awards

1

Start Date

1 October 2026

Award Duration

4 years

Sponsor

EPSRC

Application Closing Date:

28 February 2026

Supervisors

Professor Anh Phan

Eligibility Criteria

You must have, or expect to gain, a minimum 2:1 Honours degree or international equivalent in a subject relevant to the proposed PhD project (usually chemical engineering, but please get in touch if you think your qualification may be relevant). Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements. 

This studentship is open to home students only and if successful will receive a full studentship. Applicants whose first language is not English require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with a minimum of 5.5 in all sub-skills.

How To Apply

You must apply through the University's Apply to Newcastle Portal. Once registered, select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application'.

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:  

• Search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code: 8856F
• Leave the 'Research Area' field blank
• Select ‘PhD in Process Industries; Net Zero (PINZ)' as the programme of study

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Details’ section:  

• A ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form  
• The studentship code PINZ03-26 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field  
• ‘Research Proposal’ - when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal –select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.

Contact Details

pinz.cdt@ncl.ac.uk

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