Chemical Engineering
Digital tools are omnipresent and their rise exponential. Cloud and digital services have improved our lives and, overall, reduced carbon emissions, although at the expense of a growing electricity demand from data centres. Remarkably, nearly half the data centre electricity input is for self-cooling, which provides an opportunity for a technology able to harness low-grade heat and turn it into cooling power. The co-location of energy in form of heat and water is an opportunity.
The project focuses on the design and demonstration of a proof-of-principle 3D printed heat-powered cooling device that reduces waste heat and greenhouse gas emissions and boosts return on investment, while meeting all the sustainability criteria.Special characterisation techniques and additive manufacturing tools guide the development of a geometrically-optimised heat-to-cold concept which is designed to break through current barriers to commercialisation.
In this project, you will research and develop an innovative technology that uses low temperature heat for the production of cold by exploiting recent discoveries in material science and engineering [1, 2]. The ambition of this project is to earn the sector’s support and enable the widespread use of heat-powered cooling in place of the current electricity-driven counterpart.
You will work in the Emerging Sustainable Technologies Laboratory (ESTech Lab) [3], be part of a world leading research group in sustainable technologies towards the development of a proof-of-concept super-efficient processes for heat-powered cooling, have access to state-of-the-art equipment including rapid prototyping tools and brainstorm new technological avenues for cooling.
Your studies will be carried out at the Institute for Materials and Processes (IMP) and will include modelling activities supported by experiments. You will attain skills in modelling, design and testing of innovative technologies for cooling.
Please note, the position will be filled once a suitable candidate has been identified.
[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ente.202300548[2] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b06037[3] https://www.linkedin.com/in/giulio-santori-a365546/
Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. As well as:
- Proficiency with plastic 3D printing, both FDM and Stereolithographic methods
- Familiarity with Labview or similar data acquisition and control
- Familiarity with dynamic identification methods
Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.
Desirable criteria:
- knowledge of thermodynamics of fluid phase equilibria or physical chemistry;
- proficiency in computational tool such as Matlab, Mathcad, Mathematica etc… with emphasis on graphical user interface design.
A number of scholarships are available to competitive candidates. For more information on the funding application process, please contact the project’s supervisor or visit the School of Engineering website.
Applications are also welcomed from self-funded students.
Climate change is already exacerbating water scarcity bringing uncertainty in the future of the water availability vs. abstraction (water stress), especially in delicate eco-systems. At the same time, industry highly relies on water. In most of the water-demanding industrial sectors high water demand is co-located with high energy demand (water-energy nexus), similarly to countries that benefit from high solar thermal energy (high energy availability) and at the same need water. The co-location of energy in form of heat and water is an opportunity.
In this project, you will research and develop advanced dynamic mathematical models of an innovative technology that uses low temperature heat for the production of water with different quality (from drinkable to industry and agriculture). The technology will be powered by ultralow energy and exploit the temperature differences available in nature: air, soil and natural water (e.g. lakes, seas, rivers).
You will work in the Emerging Sustainable Technologies Laboratory (ESTech Lab) [1], be part of a world leading research group in sustainable technologies towards the development of user-friendly (Graphical User Interface) advanced model for the characterization and prediction of the dynamic performance of heat-powered clean water production (e.g. desalination), have access to state-of-the-art computing facility and brainstorm new technological avenues for clean water production.
Your studies will be carried out at the Institute for Materials and Processes (IMP) and will include short experimental activities to validate your models. You will attain skills in modelling, design of innovative technologies for clean water.
Please note, the position will be filled once a suitable candidate has been identified.
Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. As well as:
- Proficiency with identification of process dynamic techniques;
- proficiency in computational tool such as Matlab, Mathcad, Mathematica etc… with emphasis on graphical user interface design.
Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.
Desirable criteria: knowledge of computational thermodynamics of fluid phase equilibria or physical chemistry.
A number of scholarships are available to competitive candidates. For more information on the funding application process, please contact the project’s supervisor or visit the School of Engineering website.
Applications are also welcomed from self-funded students.
Climate change is already exacerbating water scarcity bringing uncertainty in the future of the water availability vs. abstraction (water stress), especially in delicate eco-systems. At the same time, industry highly relies on water. In most of the water-demanding industrial sectors high water demand is co-located with high energy demand (water-energy nexus), similarly to countries that benefit from high solar thermal energy (high energy availability) and at the same need water. The co-location of energy in form of heat and water is an opportunity.
In this project, you will research and develop an innovative technology that uses low temperature heat for the production of water with different quality (from drinkable to industry and agriculture) by exploiting recent discoveries in material science and engineering [1, 2]. The technology will be powered by ultralow energy and exploit the temperature differences available in nature: air, soil and natural water (e.g. lakes, seas, rivers).
You will work in the Emerging Sustainable Technologies Laboratory (ESTech Lab) [3], be part of a world leading research group in sustainable technologies towards the development of a proof-of-concept super-efficient processes for heat-powered clean water production (e.g. desalination), have access to state-of-the-art equipment including rapid prototyping tools and brainstorm new technological avenues for clean water production.
Your studies will be carried out at the Institute for Materials and Processes (IMP) and will include modelling activities supported by experiments. You will attain skills in modelling, design and testing of innovative technologies for clean water production.
Please note, the position will be filled once a suitable candidate has been identified.
[1] https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2025003650&_cid=P20-MAL3RA-15255-1
Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree.
- Proficiency with Labview or similar data acquisition and control
- Familiarity with dynamic identification methods
Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.
Desirable criteria:
- knowledge of thermodynamics of fluid phase equilibria or physical chemistry;
- proficiency in computational tool such as Matlab, Mathcad, Mathematica etc… with emphasis on graphical user interface design;
A number of scholarships are available to competitive candidates. For more information on the funding application process, please contact the project’s supervisor or visit the School of Engineering website.
Applications are also welcomed from self-funded students.
Whether it is the substantial cooling requirements of future data centres or energy-dense batteries for next-generation electric vehicles, the need for energy-efficient electronics cooling systems is ubiquitous. This is because while recent developments have produced ever-smaller and ever-denser devices, heat fluxes comparable to the surface of the Sun can be generated at hot spots, producing high temperatures that adversely impact their performance and raise risk of catastrophic failure. In the last decade and a half, novel 2D nanomaterials have been developed with unique thermal properties (e.g. ultrahigh thermal conductivity). These nanomaterials can be used to form surface coatings to enhance heat transfer from the extremely hot surfaces of electronic devices into the adjacent coolant liquid.
However, our understanding of thermal transport at this nanomaterial/liquid interface is currently limited. For 2D nanocoatings, the nanomaterial can be either carbon-based (graphene nanoparticles or nanoflakes, nanopores, graphene oxide nanosheets etc), boron-based (boron nitride nanosheets, nanotubes, etc) or hybrid (e.g. boron carbon nitride). Similarly, while water is the most studied coolant liquid, realistic applications involve dielectric fluids (e.g. benzene, pentane). Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations represent a powerful tool to study such interfaces, but MD of nanomaterial/liquid interfaces require well-calibrated intermolecular potentials, which don’t currently exist. This project will rely on recent advances in neural networks to develop machine learning potentials (MLPs) for MD simulations of realistic nanomaterial/coolant-liquids and use these to gain fundamental insights into interfacial thermal transport. The goals are to:
1) run ab-initio molecular simulations to sample relevant nanomaterial/liquid interfaces.
2) construct new MLPs by using generated data from 1) and validate them.
3) use MLPs to run classical MD simulations and characterise thermal transport.
This PhD project will be based within the School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh. This PhD project will be supervised by Dr Rohit Pillai and Dr Eleonora Ricci, and the successful applicant will join an active, friendly, and collaborative research group (see https://multiscaleflowx.github.io/). Our group makes extensive use of ARCHER2 – the UK’s national supercomputer, which is based in Edinburgh. This PhD will give the successful applicant the skills and experience to become a future leader in either academia or industry. The supervisors will provide the successful applicant with exceptional research and training opportunities, including:
• regular weekly meetings to discuss the research progress.
• opportunities for travel to participate in workshops/summer schools dedicated to advanced computational methods, as well as present results in international conferences.
• training and experience in state-of-the-art engineering research.
• mentoring from other investigators and experienced postdoctoral researchers.
• exceptional career development opportunities with strong institutional support of early career researchers.
Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.
Tuition fees + stipend are available for Home/EU and International students