PDEng position in Energy and Process Technology: Industrial heat pump

Are you interested in high-end technological design? Then, the Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) program Energy and Process Technology is very interesting for you. The PDEng program is a 2-year post-MSc technological program with a focus on technological design. This program at the University of Twente contains an educational part that will be followed at the University of Twente, and a design project that will be carried out in cooperation with a consortium of universities and companies gathered under the KICKSTART project. The educational program will have an in-depth and broadening character with ample attention for professional development and will be partly tailored to the design project.

About the project and your task

In a vapor compression cycle, throttling devices such as capillary tubes, short tube orifices, and expansion valves are used for expanding the working fluid from higher condenser pressure to lower evaporator pressure. Although these devices provide a robust and cost-effective solution, the throttling process through these devices is irreversible, isenthalpic which prohibits the recovery of the expansion work. This loss of expansion work reduces the COP of the vapor compression cycle in comparison to the ideal Carnot cycle in which the expansion process is isentropic.

There are several expansion work recovery methods that can be employed for the enhancement of the COP of the cycle. The common feature of these methods is the utilization of the kinetic energy released during the pressure reduction of the fluid as it passes from high to the low-pressure side instead of dissipating it in a throttling process. Thus, an isentropic expansion process is approached rather than isenthalpic throttling. There are various systems such as reciprocating pistons, rolling/swing piston, vane, scroll, turbo, vortex tube, etc that have shown tremendous potential in expansion work recovery. The research activity of this PDeng position focuses on designing a device for expansion work recovery. For this purpose, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model will be developed and used for the optimization of the selected expansion device.

This research will be part of a larger project in which several other related technologies will be investigated by different research groups.

We are searching for an excellent MS graduate in the field of Thermal Engineering, Fluid Dynamics, Chemical Engineering, Energy Technology, Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline with a demonstrable affinity with design and multidisciplinary assignments.

Besides, it is important that you can work in a team, have good communication skills, have a sound project approach, and speak and write fluent English.

You must have the ambition and talent to accelerate in finding solutions / creating designs for complex technological issues with a multidisciplinary character.

Previous international mobility, experience in the field of CFD, and vapor compression cycles is welcome.

We offer a very challenging position for two years in an inspiring multidisciplinary and international environment.

• salary of € 2.002 gross per month;
• a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• solid pension scheme;
• Minimum of 29 holidays in case of full-time employment

On completing the program, you will receive a certified degree. You will be entitled to use the academic degree PDEng and will be registered as a Technological Designer in the Dutch register kept by the Royal Institution of Engineers in the Netherlands (KIVI).