Research Fellow

Research Fellow in Thermal and Thermo-mechanical Energy Storage Devices and Systems

Salary: As this vacancy has limited funding the maximum salary that can be offered is Grade 7, salary £37,694.

Brief Job Description

We are seeking a highly motivated researcher to join the University of Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage and the School of Chemical Engineering. This position focuses on multiscale multiphase modelling and associated experimental validation, at the device and system levels, of energy conversion and storage technologies, particularly thermal and thermo-mechanical energy storage, including Carnot Batteries, Liquid Air Energy Storage and Compressed Gas Storage.

The postholder will be part of a large team and is expected to play a key role in developing novel and application-oriented solutions, using energy storage technologies, to address challenges associated with intermittency of renewable generation, low energy and resource efficiency, high cost of heating and cooling, and industrial decarbonisation.

The postholder will contribute to research activities across the following areas:

• Device-scale modelling and experiments.
• System-scale modelling and validation.
• Techno-economic analysis and multi-objective optimisation. 

Person Specification

• Hold or be close to the completion of a PhD on a topic on modelling with experimental validation of thermal, or thermo-mechanical energy conversion and storage devices and systems
• Good underpinning degree in relevant science and engineering disciplines, for example: thermal engineering, chemical and process engineering, energy engineering, physics and chemistry.
• Proven track record in at least four of (i) design, optimisation and modelling of thermal or thermo-mechanical energy conversion and storage devices; (ii) configuration, optimisation and modelling of energy storage systems; (iii) techno-economic analysis of energy conversion and storage systems; (iv) multi-objective optimisation for system design and operation; (v) AI-driven design and optimisation at the device and/or system level; (vi) hands on experiences in design, construction testing of thermal or thermo-mechanical energy conversion and storage devices; and (vii) hands on experiences in design, construction testing of thermal or thermo-mechanical energy conversion and storage systems.
• Proven research capabilities in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and system-level modelling, with hands-on experience using relevant software tools such as ANSYS Fluent, COMSOL Multiphysics, MATLAB/Simulink, and Aspen Plus, Python or Aspen HYSYS.

Informal enquiries can be made to {Tongtong Zhang, t.zhang.7@bham.ac.uk} 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.

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