PhD Student for Efficient Magnetocaloric Regenerators (Denmark)

12 février 2013 admin Scholarship / Bourses

Do you want to help develop innovative and environmentally friendly energy technologies for the future?

DTU Energy Conversion has received funding from the Danish Strategic Research Council for a large project on research, development and implementation of magnetocaloric heat pumps. The project, “Efficient Novel Magnetocaloric Heat Pumps” (ENOVHEAT) brings together six Danish and foreign universities as well as two Danish and two German companies. The project will employ four PhD students and two postdocs.

We are seeking a motivated PhD student for a project within the area of regenerator design. Regenerators made from a magnetocaloric material will heat up in the presence of a magnetic field. An efficient transfer of this heat between fluid and solid inside the regenerator is essential for the performance of a magnetocaloric heat pump. Each of the PhD and postdoc projects in ENOVHEAT will work together towards the common goal of understanding and optimising the many elements of a magnetocaloric heat pump. A goal of the project is to construct a proof-of-concept heat pump capable of producing 2 kW heating.

DTU Energy Conversion is focusing on functional materials and their application in sustainable energy technology. Our research areas include fuel cells, electrolysis, solar cells, magnetic refrigeration, superconductivity and thermoelectrics. The Department has 250 employees.

Job description

Your main task will be to demonstrate a high performance regenerator that exhibits high transfer rates with a minimum pressure drop. This will be done by studying fundamental heat transfer processes in the regenerator bed and investigating novel regenerator geometries and fabrication methods.

The shaping of the regenerator materials will also be studied, keeping in mind that compatibility with standard forming processes such as extrusion or tape casting will be a key point. Modelling of the regenerator based on existing numerical models developed at DTU will be used, novel approaches such as including the regenerator housing in the model will be studied. Regenerator beds will be fabricated and tested to determine the best design.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in physics, engineering, materials science or similar.
• Interest in and experience with numerical modelling
• Preferably experience with heat and mass transfer.
• Ability to work independently, to plan and carry out complicated tasks, and to be a part of a large, dynamical group.
• Good communication skills in English, both written and spoken.

Approval and Enrolment 

The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide.

Salary and appointment terms

The salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules for PhD degree students. The period of employment is 3 years.

The expected starting date is July 1 or earlier, 2013.

Further information

Please contact Researcher Kurt Engelbrecht,+45 4677 5649 kuen@dtu.dk or Senior Researcher Christian Bahl, +45 4677 5491 chrb@dtu.dk for further information.

You can read about DTU at www.dtu.dk and about DTU Energy Conversion at www.ecs.dtu.dk

Please do not send applications to this e-mail address, instead apply online as described below.

Application

We must have your online application by 15 March 2013.

Applications must be submitted as one pdf file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link « Apply online, » fill in the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one pdf file. The file must include:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
• Excel sheet with translation of grades to the Danish grading system (see guidelines and excel spreadsheet here)

Candidates may apply prior to obtaining their master’s degree, but cannot begin before having received it.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

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