About the Project
The increasing demand for clean and sustainable energy and products has established a need to develop rapid methods for producing reliable information about the properties and behaviour of materials and their conversion processes. Experimental data that can be used along with theoretical models to generate design data for process and product design are particularly desirable. In our earlier work, we have used a number of experimental methods to generate reliable thermodynamic and thermophysical data that can be readily used for rapid process and product development.
In this collaborative project, we plan to integrate a range of conventional and novel approaches to develop experimental methods for measuring design data. These methods will involve gravimetric and compositional analyses using both destructive methods such as chromatography but also non-contact approaches like Raman spectroscopy, which can provide information under elevated temperature and pressure conditions without the need for sampling. This approach will allow bridging the gap between the molecular and the macroscopic scale and thus has the potential to make a step-change in process and product design.
This project will be conducted in collaboration with Professor Johannes Kiefer, University of Bremen, Germany who is also an honorary professor at the University of Aberdeen.
The successful candidate should have, or expect to have, an Honours Degree at 2.1 or above (or equivalent) in chemical/ energy/ material/ oil & gas engineering/ or equivalent.
The student must have an appetite for significant experimental and some theoretical research with a broarder inter-disciplinary agenda covering chemical engineering, energy technologies, material engineering, and industrial chemistry.
The student must have a deeper interest in chemical processes and products, chemical thermodynamics, reactions engineering, biotechnology and environmental science.
Funding Notes
This project is for self-funded students only. There is no funding attached to this project. The successful applicant will be expected to pay Tuition Fees and living expenses, from their own resources, for the duration of study.
References
Kiefer, Johannes, Andreas Bösmann, and Peter Wasserscheid. "Quantitative measurement of complex substances dissolved in an ionic liquid using IR spectroscopy and chemometrics." tm-Technisches Messen 84.1 (2017): 32-37.
Zehentbauer, Florian M., Claudia Moretto, Ryan Stephen, Thangavel Thevar, John R. Gilchrist, Dubravka Pokrajac, Katherine L. Richard, and Johannes Kiefer. "Fluorescence spectroscopy of Rhodamine 6G: concentration and solvent effects." Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 121 (2014): 147-151.
Kiefer, Johannes, Juergen Fries, and Alfred Leipertz. "Experimental vibrational study of imidazolium-based ionic liquids: Raman and infrared spectra of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate." Applied Spectroscopy 61.12 (2007): 1306-1311.
Afzal, Waheed, Xiangyang Liu, and John M. Prausnitz. "Solubilities of some gases in four imidazolium-based ionic liquids." The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics 63 (2013): 88-94.
Afzal, Waheed, Brian Yoo, and John M. Prausnitz. "Inert-Gas-Stripping Method for Measuring Solubilities of Sparingly Soluble Gases in Liquids. Solubilities of Some Gases in Protic Ionic Liquid 1-Butyl, 3-Hydrogen-imidazolium Acetate." Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 51.11 (2012): 4433-4439.
Rosenboom, Jan-Georg, Waheed Afzal, and John M. Prausnitz. "Solubilities of some organic solutes in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate. Chromatographic measurements and predictions from COSMO-RS." The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics 47 (2012): 320-327.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
This project is advertised in relation to the research areas of the discipline of Engineering. Formal applications can be completed online: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply. You should apply for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, to ensure that your application is passed to the correct College for processing.
NOTE CLEARLY THE NAME OF THE SUPERVISOR AND EXACT PROJECT TITLE YOU WISH TO BE CONSIDERED FOR ON THE APPLICATION FORM. Applicants are limited to applying for a maximum of 2 projects. Any further applications received will be automatically withdrawn.
Informal inquiries can be made to Dr W Afzal (waheed@abdn.ac.uk) with a copy of your curriculum vitae and cover letter. All general enquiries should be directed to the Graduate School Admissions Unit (cpsgrad@abdn.ac.uk).
Continue with Facebook
