Ph.D student position in passive Direct Air Capture

Negative emissions are vital and needed as soon as possible. The position gives the PhD student a unique opportunity to work in a new and highly relevant field of research. We will have the possibility to make a most important contribution to research and to society as a whole, in a time where this is obviously and critically needed. Passive DAC may turn out to be an important part of the puzzle to tackling climate change.
And of course, the Division of Energy Technology at Chalmers is a great place to work!

Information about the division and the project 
Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers. As an employee at the Division of Energy Technology you are an important part of a group of researchers with the general aim to optimize and reduce environmental impact of industrial energy use. In total, Energy Technology has around 60 employees out of which 30 are PhD-students.

Negative emissions of carbon dioxide are likely indispensable for solving the climate crisis, and achieving climate targets. There are several main pathways to achieve such negative emissions. One promising option is the use of Direct Air Capture, or DAC, where CO2 in the air is absorbed in different types of media. The problem with DAC are the high costs, mainly related to the high gas volumes which need to be treated in order to achieve reasonable capture rates. The aim of the proposed project is to develop low-cost technology for removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

The work aims at developing a novel “passive” DAC system. We will use cheap alkaline by-products that passively react with carbon dioxide in the air to form stable carbonates, e.g. CaCO3. Alkaline by-products from industry could likely be employed as raw materials in the process, which would increase circularity and integration of different industrial sectors. A significant fraction of such materials is generated globally as well as in Sweden, primarily from the steel and mining industry. The use of such cheap materials in combination with a system which does not need to actively treat enormous amounts of air directly in fans and blowers, could result in a much lower CO2-capture cost compared to normal systems, and hence play a significant role in a future scenario where massive Negative emissions will be needed. In order to achieve a significant carbonation rate, a simple system of stacked plates could be constructed. The spaces between the plates will allow for natural convective air flow. Furthermore, the passive DAC process can be coupled to a separate calcination stage whereby pure CO2 for storage is obtained, thus creating a cyclic process.

More specifically, we see that as a Ph.D within this project will contribute significantly in this project with respect to i) design and construction of the passive-DAC system, ii) synthesis and experimental evaluation of alkaline absorbents and iii) process evaluation of the system. Hence we expect that you will be involved in all aspects of the project, and also work closely together with other researchers in the project.

Major responsibilities
Your main responsibility as a Ph.D. student is to pursue your own scientific studies and to develop your abilities and knowledge within the research fields covered by the project. You are expected to develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research verbally at scientific conferences and in written journal articles.

Consquently, a high degree of independence is required, while still being capable of close collaboration with other members of the group and external collaborators.

Qualifications
To qualify for this position you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical engineering or similar.

The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English.

Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20220567 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name, Ref. number)
• CV
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous experience of relevance for the position (e.g. education, thesis work and, if applicable, any other research activities)
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:
• Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
• Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, e.g. TOEFL test results.

Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. 

Application deadline: 2022-11-20 

For questions, please contact:
Carl Linderholm, Energy Technology
Email: carl.linderholm@chalmers.se, +46 31 772 1443

Prof. Tobias Mattisson, Energy Technology
Email: tm@chalmers.se, phone +46 31 772 14 25