Design of novel industrial scale photoreactors for solid-liquid reactions

This PhD project is embedded in the Group of Process Intensification with Alternative Energy Forms at KU Leuven under the supervision of Prof. Tom Van Gerven. We also form part of the larger Process Engineering for Sustainable Systems (ProcESS) section at the Department of Chemical Engineering with expertise in process intensification, use of alternative energy sources and membrane technology.
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Project

The chemical industry is the fourth-largest producer in the manufacturing sector in Europe, and has already made significant progress in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through optimized processes. However, to meet the European climate change objectives by 2050 and become carbon-neutral, it must transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources. A promising approach is using light from artificial light sources to drive reactions, enabling new pathways and degrees of freedom for process development in intrinsically electrified chemical manufacturing. Photochemistry in continuously operated reactors meets many principles of Green Chemistry and process intensification, including enhanced safety, high energy efficiency, and reduced waste. Photons are environmentally friendly, traceless reagents, and photochemical reactions often exhibit high selectivity with minimal waste.

However, light attenuates exponentially in the reaction medium, which means it can only penetrate a thin film of a few millimetres when the reaction solution is strongly absorbing, requiring special consideration when developing efficient photochemical processes, especially with a view towards scale-up. Within the industrial doctoral network PROSPER, we will address these challenges by designing industrial scale photoreactors by considering the heat and mass transfer demands in the reaction solution as well as the photonic efficiency.

The offered PhD project will characterize mass transfer and photon flux in solid-liquid flow-photoreactors at the laboratory and industrial scale. The objective it to identify the photon and mass limitations via experimentation and modeling, explore the benefits of novel concepts such as pulsed flow and phosphorescence, and to exploit the results to formulate a scale-up strategy for efficient solid-liquid flow-photoreactors. This work will be performed in close collaboration and with secondments at our industrial partners.

Profile

• Requirement: Master's degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering or the like with strong overall marks
• Knowledge of photochemical processes will be regarded as a plus
• Adequate English (written and verbal communication) for scientific interactions required
• Strong motivation is a must
• Willingness to work at interdisciplinary boundaries

Importantly, applicants must also meet the requirements of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Conditions of Mobility of Researchers. Researchers can be of any nationality and are required to undertake transnational mobility. This means that researchers must not have resided in the country of their host beneficiary (Belgium) for more than 12 months in the past 3 years.

Offer

The successful candidate will be offered a PhD position to become part of our international team with global research links.

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. dr. ir. Tom Van Gerven, tel.: +32 16 32 23 42, mail: [email protected].

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