Postdoc Supercritical CO2 Power Cycle

Join our team at TU Delft to develop a 1–2 MW-class supercritical C02 power-cycle test facility, design high-performance turbomachinery, and quantify windage losses in high-speed rotating flows

Job description
Supercritical CO2 power cycles enable compact, high-efficiency power conversion, but they pose major challenges for turbomachinery integration and loss control at high rotational speeds. In this project, TU Delft works with an industrial partner developing high-speed motors and generators. The aim is to design, build, and test a high-speed generator that will later be integrated into a hermetically sealed turbogenerator module.

In this postdoctoral position, you will lead the design of a 1–2 MW net-power sCO2 test setup and the optimization of the associated turbomachinery. In parallel, you will perform detailed CFD studies (using LES or DNS) to quantify windage losses in Taylor–Couette-type configurations with supercritical CO2 and strongly variable properties. Your outcomes will directly feed into loss estimattions, design rules, and specifications for the demonstrator.

Key tasks include

• Designing a 1–2 MW-class sCO2 test setup (cycle layout, operating map, instrumentation, control and safety concept).
• Designing and optimizing the turbomachinery (mean-line / quasi-1D design, refinement with 3D CFD where needed).
• Defining interfaces between turbomachinery, generator, and the long-term hermetically sealed module, in close collaboration with the industrial partner and a PhD candidate developing the generator.
• Running high-fidelity CFD (LES or DNS) of rotating shear flows (Taylor–Couette-type setups) with real-fluid CO2 and variable properties to quantify windage losses and their scaling.
• Translating results into engineering models (loss correlations, uncertainty bounds, and practical design recommendations).

As a post-doc, you will join a multi-disciplinary team of specialists in the fields of energy technology, high performance computing for CFD and electrical engineering. You will work at the department of Process and Energy (Mechanical Engineering), within the Energy Technology group. Within this group, you will find enthusiastic colleagues working on a wide variety of engineering & academic challenges including flexible mechanical vapour recompression, molten salt degradation in thermal energy storage solutions, development of enhanced power cycles, exascale turbulent multiphase simulations, hydrogen mixing and combustion and more. You will work in close collaboration with prof. dr. Rene Pecnik and dr. ir. Jurriaan Peeters, who both enjoy working at the intersection of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics.

Job requirements
We seek an enthusiastic and motivated candidate with:

• A PhD (or equivalent) in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, applied physics, or a closely related field.
• Strong background in thermodynamics, turbomachinery, and fluid dynamics.
• Demonstrated experience with CFD; experience with rotating flows and/or LES/DNS is a strong plus.
• Solid programming skills (e.g., Python and C/C++); experience with HPC and/or GPU computing is beneficial.
• Ability to work independently and drive system-level design, while collaborating effectively in an interdisciplinary and industry-linked team.
• Good command of English, both written and spoken.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Mechanical Engineering
From chip to ship. From machine to human being. From idea to solution. Driven by a deep-rooted desire to understand our environment and discover its underlying mechanisms, research and education at the ME faculty focusses on fundamental understanding, design, production including application and product improvement, materials, processes and (mechanical) systems.

ME is a dynamic and innovative faculty with high-tech lab facilities and international reach. It’s a large faculty but also versatile, so we can often make unique connections by combining different disciplines. This is reflected in ME’s outstanding, state-of-the-art education, which trains students to become responsible and socially engaged engineers and scientists. We translate our knowledge and insights into solutions to societal issues, contributing to a sustainable society and to the development of prosperity and well-being. That is what unites us in pioneering research, inspiring education and (inter)national cooperation.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Do you want to experience working at our faculty? These videos will introduce you to some of our researchers and their work.

Conditions of employment

• Duration of contract is 2 years Temporary
• A job of 36-40 hours per week.
• Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• An excellent pension scheme via the ABP.
• The possibility to compile an individual employment package every year.
• Discount with health insurers on supplemental packages.
• Flexible working week.
• Every year, 232 leave hours (at 38 hours). You can also sell or buy additional leave hours via the individual choice budget.
• Plenty of opportunities for education, training and courses.
• Partially paid parental leave
• Attention for working healthy and energetically with the vitality program.

Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft is committed to make your move as smooth as possible! The HR unit, Coming to Delft Service, offers information on their website to help you prepare your relocation. In addition, Coming to Delft Service organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands, and expand your (social) network in Delft. A Dual Career Programme is available, to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands. .

Additional information
If you would like more information about this vacancy or the selection procedure, please contact recruitment-me@tudelft.nl.

Application procedure
Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply no later than 15 April 2026 via the application button and upload the following documents:

• CV
• Motivational letter

Please note:

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
• As part of knowledge security, TU Delft conducts a risk assessment during the recruitment of personnel. We do this, among other things, to prevent the unwanted transfer of sensitive knowledge and technology. The assessment is based on information provided by the candidates themselves, such as their motivation letter and CV, and takes place at the final stages of the selection process. When the outcome of the assessment is negative, the candidate will be informed. The processing of personal data in the context of the risk assessment is carried out on the legal basis of the GDPR: performing a public task in the public interest. You can find more information about this assessment on our website about knowledge security.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.