PhD Studentship in Chemical Engineering: Next generation of composite molten salt-ceramic membranes for selective separation of NOx, SO2 and CO2

Number of awards:
1

Start date and duration:
January 2020 for 3 years.

Overview:
Separations use 10-15% of the world’s energy consumption. Their importance is therefore inarguable. Greenhouse gases and pollutants are the current major development area for new separation technologies, to combat climate change and environmental damage. This PhD will place you at the cutting-edge of processes likely to dominate the future of chemical engineering and science.

Membranes offer economical, environmentally friendly and continuous separation. In this project you will develop a class of membranes, “dual phase molten salt membranes”, for the removal of e.g. CO2 or NOx. The use of membranes in these separations, and creative new solutions, are routinely published in top academic journals. You will be involved in the synthesis, characterisation and testing of these membranes, in separations for future chemical engineering challenges.

The facilities and opportunities provided to you are unparalleled. Through our home institution, collaborative partners and networks, we have access to the brightest and best people and equipment. Whether your intention is to continue into academia, or to prepare yourself for cutting-edge industrial work, this project will prepare you for a future as a leader in separation processes.

Sponsor:
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EPSRC (DTA) (https://epsrc.ukri.org/)

Name of supervisor(s):
Professor I Metcalfe (https://bit.ly/2FhYpyl), Professor in Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering (https://bit.ly/2HQSu8M).

Eligibility Criteria:
You should have an upper-second-class Honours degree or higher or international equivalent, in Chemical Engineering, or a related subject.

The award is available to UK/EU applicants only. Depending on how you meet the EPSRC’s eligibility criteria (https://epsrc.ukri.org/skills/students/help/eligibility/), you may be entitled to a full or a partial award.

How to apply:
You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application system. To do this please ‘Create a new account’ (https://bit.ly/2KgP1Pg).

All relevant fields should be completed, but fields marked with a red asterisk must to be completed. The following information will help us to process your application. You will need to:

insert the programme code 8030F in the programme of study section
select ‘PhD Chemical Engineering (full time) - Chemical Engineering’ as the programme of study
insert the studentship code ENG002 in the studentship/partnership reference field
attach a covering letter and CV. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote reference code ENG002 and state how your interests and experience relate to the project
attach degree transcripts and certificates and, if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualifications.