PhD position M/F : Design of an intensified reactor for methanol production using a process synthesis approach

-------- The Reactions and Process Engineering Laboratory (LRGP) is a joint research laboratory of the CNRS and the University of Lorraine. It is located in Nancy, France's second largest student city. It is mainly located in the city centre, on the premises of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques de Nancy (ENSIC). The research laboratory is a leading chemical and process engineering laboratory in France and worldwide (18 CNRS researchers, 82 teacher-researchers, 43 technical and administrative staff and 180 non-permanent staff: contract researchers, doctoral students, post-doctoral students and master's students).
The thesis is part of the European M2ARE project: (Maritime Methanol: Adaptable, Renewable, and Environmentally-friendly)

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/m%C2%B2are-project_this-week-on-the-5th-…

The project aims at, using process synthesis methods based on simulation tools such as Aspen or Prosim, to optimise the synthesis of methanol and the separation of the products (methanol and water) by condensation. Based on a process super-structure representing all the possible reactor and separator arrangements, and taking into account the thermal integration of the process, the optimum configuration will be sought, combining equipment dimensions, process architecture and operating conditions, offering maximum conversion per pass, before recycling the unconverted hydrogen. Optimisation will be based on cost criteria, OPEX and CAPEX, and overall energy efficiency, while looking for the simplest possible structures that can be easily built. A robustness study could be carried out based on a sensitivity analysis in static mode around the optimum operating points to assess the influence of variations in flow rate and input composition on the overall performance of the process. If necessary, a dynamic study of the final configuration can be carried out to ensure that the proposed solution can respond quickly to a variation in process input load (flow rate, composition of reagents). Based on the optimised process diagram, a design for the multifunctional reactor (reaction-separation) will then be proposed. A simplified (1D) model of the equipment, incorporating heat and mass transfer correlations to represent different possible technologies (tubes, plates, cushions, etc.), will be produced to describe the overall performance of the device. The purpose of the model is to enable the preliminary design of the geometry and size of the reactor. The aim is to choose the most appropriate geometry and technology for the design of a realistic 3D thermal reactor exchanger, guaranteeing efficient heat and mass transfer, which will be studied more specifically in the other project Phd thesis.