Thesis CIFRE: Ph.D. Student in Physical Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Chemical Engineering

Contexte du Besoin

About John Cockerill Hydrogen

John Cockerill Group develops large-scale technological solutions to address contemporary needs: preserving natural resources, contributing to greener mobility, sustainable production, combating insecurity, and facilitating access to renewable energy. Its offerings to companies, states, and communities come in the form of services and associated equipment for the energy, defense, industry, environment, transportation, and infrastructure sectors. Founded in 1817, the group's 6,000 employees, driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and a thirst for innovation, achieved a turnover of 1.1 billion euros in 2020 across 23 countries on 5 continents.

As a response to the energy transition challenge, John Cockerill has established a joint venture in China for the design, manufacturing, and installation of pressurized alkaline electrolyzers. Indeed, John Cockerill is the world leader in delivering electrolyzers for large-scale green hydrogen production, with over 100 MW delivered in 2021.

John Cockerill Hydrogen provides an opportunity to engage with both the concrete, technical aspects of projects and the chance to be creative, proposing innovative solutions!

Are you up for the challenge?

Welcome on board as our next Ph.D. student in Physical Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Chemical Engineering.

This thesis will be a "CIFRE thesis" collaboration between John Cockerill and the LEMTA laboratory at the University of Lorraine. LEMTA is a well-known academic laboratory in the energy vector, especially in the hydrogen field and electrochemistry systems.

Nature & portée

Background

Alkaline water electrolyzers are a mature solution for producing green hydrogen from renewable energy. This technology does not require rare platinum-group materials, and so scaling up the production of these hydrogen generators to reach the hundreds of GW/year needed to meet our decarbonization targets is possible. Even if the technology is considered mature, there is still significant potential for progress in terms of power density and durability. The aim of the proposed thesis work is to establish a generic physical model of the alkaline electrolyzer, which will be useful for accelerating optimization of the system design.

Nature & Scope

A comprehensive literature review and discussions with John Cockerill engineers will be conducted to identify the physical and chemical mechanisms governing alkaline electrolyzer operation and formulate a modeling strategy. This strategy will involve defining parameters related to mass transport, heat transfer, and charge transfer, with the model's complexity growing gradually until the desired level of accuracy is achieved. Unknown parameters will be estimated through experimentation at each stage, and the model's outcomes will be compared with experimental results obtained in a single or a stack reduced size, ensuring the verification of the generic model. Finally, particular attention will be paid to understand degradation mechanisms and predict their effects.

Principales responsabilités

Main Responsibilities

• Investigate, understand, and enhance specific mechanisms within pressurized alkaline electrolyzers, focusing on mass, heat, and charge transfer phenomena.
• Write the document of simulations and models.
• Establish testing protocols for experiments.
• Analyze, interpret, and consolidate testing data.
• Prepare comprehensive reports and actively participate in meetings and conferences.
• Contribute to the development and safeguarding of intellectual property.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for communication with researchers and engineers at John Cockerill and the LEMTA laboratory.

Profil

Technical Competencies

• Engineer or Master2 in Chemistry/Physical chemistry/Chemical engineering.
• Good skills in physical/chemical modeling and coding would be a plus.
• Previous experience with fuel cells/electrolyzers/flow batteries is an asset.
• Basic knowledge in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics.
• Capacity for teamwork and proficiency in written and oral communication in French and English.

Skills

• Analytical, team player, problem-solver, hands-on, and autonomous.
• Ability to define and adhere to a plan, and work on experimental and modeling aspects in parallel.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills.

The main office of the Ph.D. student will be at LEMTA, 2 Avenue de la Forêt de Haye, 54500 Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France. The advantage of this thesis lies in its integration into the industrial world alongside the academic one, offering significant advantages for the doctoral student and enhancing their prospects for future career success.