Job offer

Commercial Industrial High Temperature Heat Pumps (IHTHPs) currently top out at around 130°C in a closed cycle arrangement. Higher temperatures can be achieved though steam compression, typically to about 160°C. Market analysis of the technology indicates that despite the progress made so far, closed cycle IHTHPs running at 160°C are still mostly bespoke designs for specific applications due to several technical and economic hurdles. Most research and Development efforts today tackle only some of the technical hurdles yielding incremental gains but fall short of breakthroughs. This led to the conception of the project: Industrial decarbonisation using innovative low-grade heat upgrade (HeatMinds) which succeeded in securing funding from the European Commission under the MARIE Skłodowska-CURIE ACTIONS Doctoral Network (DN) Scheme.

HeatMinds will address the challenges in an integrated, step-change approach through conducting multidisciplinary research and development to further our understanding of IHTHP, both at the overall system and component levels while addressing sustainability, economic social impact and energy policy aspects to support realising its potential to provide a breakthrough towards full industrial heat decarbonisation while providing specialised training for 15 doctoral researchers to help establish the backbone of an important industry.

Within HeatMinds, Work Package 1 will develop models that enable the selection and optimisation of heat upgrade system configurations that can span the intended wide temperature upgrade range and maximum temperature (~ 50 - 250 °C) using working fluids with negligible global warming potential.

This job offer (DC02) is focused on the development and optimisation of compound industrial high-temperature heat pump (IHTHP) systems, combining multiple cycles and mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) to meet demanding industrial heat requirements. To this end, four technical objectives are set: (1) to explore advanced cascaded cycle configurations enhancing the performance of IHTHPs as a function of source temperature and temperature lift; (2) to explore advanced compound MVR+IHTHP cycle configurations enhancing the performance of IHTHPs as a function of source temperature and temperature lift. (3) to explore the operational flexibility of compound systems as compared to single cycle architectures, and the associated constraints; (4) to develop multi-objective optimisation tools able to identify the best combination of refrigerants, cycle architectures and overall system layout for IHTHP applications, given a set of boundary conditions.

The recruited doctoral candidate will enjoy a six-month training period (secondment) at Rank, a manufacturer of high temperature heat pumps and Organic Rankine Cycle power systems, headquartered in La Vall d’Uixó (Spain).

Master Degree or equivalent, Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field Engineering » Chemical engineering

Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field Technology » Energy technology

Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Specific Requirements

Earned degree (mandatory):

• MSc in Mechanical, Energy, Industrial or Chemical Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline. Preference will be given to candidates with a major in thermal or energy engineering.

Background (mandatory):

• Thermodynamics and energy balances for interconnected thermal systems.
• Heat transfer and the operating principles of thermal systems.
• Numerical modelling and simulation of thermal or energy systems.
• Programming skills in Python and/or MATLAB.

Additional background that will be valued in the selection process:

• Prior study or experience in heat pumps, refrigeration or vapour-compression cycles.
• Numerical optimisation, in particular multiobjective optimisation of energy systems.
• HVAC systems based on cascaded or multistage cycles, mechanical vapour recompression and industrial heat integration.
• Off-design performance, operational flexibility and operating constraints of compressors, heat exchangers and integrated thermal systems.

English language: Proficiency in spoken and written English equivalent to CEFR level C1 is required and will be assessed during the interview.

Languages ENGLISH

• Researchers funded by Doctoral Networks should comply with the mobility rules: in general, they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting organisation for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.
• In addition, they:
• must not have a doctoral degree at the date of their recruitment.
• can be of any nationality.

Selection process

STAGE 1: The first stage of the evaluation procedure will be based on the applicant’s Application Package, comprised of the following items:

• CV Europass (https://europa.eu/europass/en/create-europass-cv)
• Letter of motivation explaining the applicant’s interest in the project and suitability for the position.
• Written assignment: Analysis of the challenges to decarbonise the provision of industrial heat by 2050 and the associated needs for technology development. (max 3 pages)
• Short video (less than 2min): why I should be selected for the position. The candidates should address some of the following questions:
• D1: Why did you decide to apply for a position in HeatMinds?
• D2: What do you expect to gain from an MSCA programme?
• D3: How can you add value to an MSCA programme?
• D4: What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• D5: Describe a time when you had to deliver a challenging project. What was your role and what was the outcome?
• D6: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
• D7: Why should you be selected for the position?
• Letters of recommendation (not mandatory)

The application package must be sent to Prof. David Sánchez (ds@us.e) and shall not exceed 15 Mb.