Funding is available to fully support a PhD research student (including university tuition fees and salary over £15,000 per annum tax free). The candidate must be a UK/EU citizen and should have at least a strong upper second-class (2.1) degree in Chemical Engineering or related discipline. The project provides a unique opportunity to train a student in advanced research techniques and equip him/her with a wide range of skills that will enhance his/her employability by a wide spectrum of industries including food, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, environmental, minerals, energy, biomedical etc. Enquiries about the research project should be addressed to Professor M. Barigou ([Email Address Removed]).
The proposed research is concerned with the use of the novel non-invasive technique of Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) to study particle-liquid suspensions in mechanically agitated vessels. PEPT is unique in flow visualisation terms, being able to examine flow phenomena in three dimensions that could not be observed as effectively by using other techniques. PEPT uses a single positron-emitting particle as a flow tracer which is tracked in 3D space and time to reveal its full Lagrangian trajectory. It is particularly useful for the study of multiphase flows, to map the flow of fluids and the flow of particles, where one component can be labelled and its behaviour observed. The method allows probing of opaque fluids and within opaque apparatus, a distinct advantage over other advanced optical methods such as LDV or PIV.
Mechanically agitated vessels are ubiquitous in industry including the manufacture of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, personal/home care products, paper and pulp, polymers, food, and the formulation of products for these sectors. Their design, however, is still often as much an art as a science and for many applications, it cannot be carried out from first principles. In particular, numerous difficult mixing problems are found with particle-liquid processing. There are many important topics that either have not been studied at all or if they have, many questions still exist so that even empirical solutions are lacking in physical insight. For a number of these topics, PEPT provides ways of investigating them experimentally and of providing data that can be compared with predictions from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) or other computational modelling techniques. It is proposed to investigate a selection of such topics during this project. The work will also address, as appropriate, theoretical/modelling aspects of the project in collaboration with the other partners, which may include numerical simulations (e.g. CFD) depending on the candidate’s background and interests.
The work includes collaboration with King’s College London and the University of Edinburgh, and there is possibility for industrial collaboration with various companies: https://gow.epsrc.ukri.org/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/R045046/1. The PhD project is available as part of this multidisciplinary EPSRC Programme Grant, which will provide a unique opportunity for the student to work alongside and interact with a number of world-leading academics and experienced postdoctoral research fellows.
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