Research Associate in Chemical Engineering
Imperial College London Department of Chemical Engineering
Job summary
The Department of Chemical Engineering is seeking a Research Associate for Modelling and Control of Energy Systems funded by the EPSRC grant for the project “Grid Scale Thermal and Thermo-Chemical Electricity Storage”. Thermal and thermo-chemical electricity storage systems can integrate renewables by shifting electrical energy to high demand periods or provide grid services like frequency control or spinning reserve. It's also possible to...
Job listing information
- Reference ENG02114
- Date posted 22 April 2022
- Closing date 26 June 2022
Key information about the role
Job description
Job summary
The Department of Chemical Engineering is seeking a Research Associate for Modelling and Control of Energy Systems funded by the EPSRC grant for the project “Grid Scale Thermal and Thermo-Chemical Electricity Storage”. Thermal and thermo-chemical electricity storage systems can integrate renewables by shifting electrical energy to high demand periods or provide grid services like frequency control or spinning reserve. It's also possible to use the stored energy in the form of heat and cold.
The goal of the Imperial College London work package for this project is to investigate the widest range of power grid services as well as the services for heating and cooling networks, which can be provided by these novel energy storage solutions.
Duties and responsibilities
In this role you will have the opportunity to collaborate with researchers from the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge, as well as with the industrial partners of our project on a highly relevant topic for accelerating the transition to a net-zero future.
Key responsibilities:
- You will carry out dynamic modelling exercises for unit operations such as heat exchangers, turbines, expanders, compressors, and chemical reactors using tools such as Matlab/SIMULINK, OpenModelica, or using programming languages such as Python or C, C++
- You will integrate the model components indicated above into functional system-wide simulations of thermal and thermo-chemical energy storage systems
- You will create appropriate use cases for thermal and thermo-chemical energy storage systems considering references for power grid ancillary services offered by other medium and large-scale energy storage solutions and services for heating and cooling networks such as the integration of the thermal and thermo-chemical energy storage systems with district heating/cooling networks, industrial complexes, or data centres
- You will find out appropriate parametrisations for the constructed simulations in line with the determined use cases
- You will research control and optimization strategies, which can facilitate the provision of the above-mentioned services from the thermal and thermo-chemical energy storage systems and integrate the algorithms for these strategies with the previously constructed simulations
- You will create dynamic simulation scenarios for the above-mentioned services to test the control and optimization strategies and determine their performance
- You will analyse the simulation results with respect to the various design parameters, iterate and optimise the control and optimisation strategies as well as the design parameters of the thermal and thermo-chemical energy storage systems
- You will deliver research outcomes in accordance with the above plan and demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed autonomous solutions in suitable simulation and testing environments
- You are expected to publish your findings in high quality journals and present at national and international meetings
You will assist in the supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate research students and research assistants as required
Essential requirements
Required Skills and Experience:
- Expertise in mathematical methods and algorithms used in systems engineering for process modelling, optimisation, and control
- Prior knowledge of energy systems such as thermal power plants, industrial heat pumps, refrigeration systems, gas compressors, or natural gas liquification processes
- Basic understanding of electrical power systems and electrical machines used in a process systems environment such as variable speed drives for compressors, fans, and pumps
- Strong skills and experience in working with computer code, especially in a collaborative development setting
- Previous experience with working on pumped-thermal, electro-thermal, carnot-batteries type solutions is a plus
Further information
The post is available from October 1st, 2022 for 12 months. The post is based in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London (South Kensington Campus).
Informal enquiries about the post can be made to Dr Mehmet Mercangoz (m.mercangoz@imperial.ac.uk).
To apply, please click the Apply now button at the top of the page. Please ensure you include a completed application form with your submission.
Further information about the post is available in the job description.
Should you have any queries about the application process please contact chemeng.staffing@imperial.ac.uk.
Closing date: midnight on Sunday 26th June 2022
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