Postdoc CFD Membraneless Water Electrolysis

Hydrogen generated from green electricity in water electrolysers is destined to play a prominent role in the energy transition away from fossil fuels. A main source of inefficiency is the membrane. By flowing through porous electrodes in opposite directions, the hydrogen gas can be separated from the oxygen, without a membrane. Without a membrane, the electrodes can be brought closely together to create microfluidic devices with very low electric resistance. This makes it possible to use electrolytes that have only limited conductivity, opening up the way towards purifying various industrial wastewater streams while at the same time making hydrogen.

Within a European consortium of several universities and a microfluidics company, MacGhyver (https://greenhydrogen-pathfinder.eu/), you will work on simulations of several innovative prototypes. To optimize these, computer simulations can be very useful (https://spectrum.ieee.org/eden-tech-water-treatment). Computational Fluid Dynamics will allow identifying dead zones in which bubbles tend to nucleate, something you may simulate with two-fluid multiphase flow models. Multiphysics simulations in e.g. COMSOL or Fluent will allow you to simulate the electric fields and current distributions, allowing optimization of more complex geometries.

You will be part of a lively research group (http://jwhaverkort.weblog.tudelft.nl) consisting of a nice mix of experimental and computational students, PhDs, and postdoctoral researchers. Occasional work visits or consortium meetings to the collaborative partners are foreseen. An experimental PhD project is running in parallel, which will allow you to walk away from your computer into the lab and directly compare your results to experiments. Within Delft there is a flourishing community of researchers working on various types and aspects of electrolysis (https://www.tudelft.nl/e-refinery)

If you are enthusiastic to use your skills in CFD to help the energy transition, we look forward to meet you and work on this challenging topic together.