PhD Position on Multiscale Mechanical and Performance Modelling of Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cells and Stacks

High-Temperature Solid Oxide Electrolysers (SOECs) are a promising technology with the potential to reduce the electrical energy consumption by 30% compared to conventional low temperature electrolysers. The elevated operating temperatures, typically above 600°C, also allow for synergies with industrial production processes (e.g. steel, ammonia, etc.) where waste heat or steam is available. However, key challenges remain for the successful deployment of the technology associated to costs, durability and scale up.

A potential option to address some of these challenges is enlarging the active cell area from the state-of-the-art of 100 cm², up to 1000 cm², as fewer cells are then necessary to produce the same amount of hydrogen, thereby reducing costs. As part of the ~50 Mio€ ‘HyPRO’ project, the largest ever R&D project on green hydrogen in the Netherlands bringing together 58 partners from research and industry,

we are looking for a PhD candidate to develop an electrochemical + thermomechanical cell and stack model of the large active area SOEC technology developed by project partner, TNO. The model will need to incorporate gas manifolds and hot-box design into a hierarchical modelling methodology developed previously for the integrated multiscale modelling of SOEC cells and stacks

The selected PhD candidate will then use the model to study the effect of various design factors such as electrode microstructure, layer thickness, and active area at the cell level, and rib and channel width for interconnect design, flow distribution and pressure drop through the gas manifolds, and sufficient mechanical stress on the interconnect and cells for effective sealing, at the stack level. The multiscale cell and stack model will then need to be coupled to process models developed by project partner University of Groningen, to perform a techno-economic analysis of the large active area SOEC technology for use cases selected by industrial project partners such as Bosal, Shell, and Lyondell Basell. The coupling of the multiscale multiphysics cell and stack model to the process model may require a model reduction step, e.g. via the development of a neural network surrogate of the multiphysics model.

Requirements:

• You have a master’s degree in chemical engineering, chemistry, applied physics or a related field.
• You have experience and/or strong interest in numerical modelling, coding, and machine learning.
• You have experience and/or strong interest in electrochemistry, transport phenomena, structural mechanics, and reactor design.
• You are an excellent team player in an enthusiastic group of scientists and engineers working on a common theme.
• You are creative, like to push boundaries, and are highly motivated to address a major challenge for thelow-carbonn energy and materials transition.
• You are fluent in English and able to collaborate intensively with external parties from academia and industry in regular meetings and work visits.

Salary Benefits:

• A full-time position for 4 years;
• Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU);
• A gross monthly salary of € 2.901,-per month;
• There are excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme;
• A minimum of 232 leave hours in case of full-time employment based on a formal workweek of 38 hours. A full-time employment in practice means 40 hours a week, therefore resulting in 96 extra leave hours on an annual basis;
• Free access to sports facilities on campus;

38 - 40 hours per week

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