The ChEMaRTS research group consists of three professorships and is active in the field of sustainable waste management and valorization. The group’s research topics include waste strategies for improved sustainability at society level, performance models for industrial waste treatment processes and chemical/physical phenomena at particle level in waste recovery processes. In this way, ChEMaRTS develops a deep and vertically integrated understanding of waste and its recovery potential, and contributes to closing materials cycles in a circular economy. The research group is embedded in the Faculty of Engineering Technology and the Department of Materials Engineering and Chemical Engineeering. ChEMaRTS is located at Group T Leuven Campus, an international and entrepreneurial engineering campus with a focus on sustainability and healthcare engineering.
Project
The key challenge of this PhD project is to quantitatively assess the environmental impacts and economic feasibility of a hydrothermal and a pyrolysis/gasification biowaste conversion route developed within the network. To this extend, life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic assessment (TEA) will be applied.
The activities will be performed under the supervision of Prof. Jo Van Caneghem and Prof. Giuseppe Granata. The position includes a 6-month academic secondment at TU Darmstadt (Germany) to collaboratively gain insight in contributing processes from upstream and downstream perspective under the supervision of Prof. Arne Scholtissek and a 3-month industry secondment at Sulzer (Switzerland) to gather detailed inventory data of the considered cases to assure fit to real-case scenarios.
The work requires on the one hand a strong background in LCA and sound notions of TEA, both theoretical and applied, supported by for instance scientific publications or a master thesis. On the other hand, general knowledge of chemical/thermal industrial processes is imperative and specific knowledge of thermal biowaste conversion processes a strong asset. The candidate should have experience with LCA (e.g., UMBERTO) and preferably also TEA modelling software. Capability of critically analysing the achieved results is also required.
Profile
The ideal candidate is an enthusiastic and self-motivated person with a mindset for personal development. Applicants have obtained (or are about to obtain) a M.Sc. degree with distinction in Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Bioengineering or Process Engineering. Eligible applications will be assessed based on the applicant’s (1) academic qualifications, (2) previous (documented) experience in TEA and LCA, (3) technical background, (4) communication skills, and (5) motivation for the project. In addition to the eligibility criteria introduced above, the applicant should meet the requirements for PhD enrollment at KU Leuven.
Offer
We offer
• A full time position for 36 months, extendable to 48 months.
• Specialized doctoral training to boost your expertise.
• Opportunities to collaborate in groundbreaking research and participate in international conferences.
• Access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and software, and a range of university benefits (health insurance, etc.).
• A dynamic, passionate team of fellow PhD students.
More information about the MSCA-DN UPCYCLE project
Full description of the PhD position
Interested – APPLY HERE
Other UPCYCLE PhD positions
Interested?
For more information please contact Prof. dr. ing. Jo Van Caneghem, tel.: +32 16 30 10 53, mail: jo.vancaneghem@kuleuven.be.
IMPORTANT: Only apply via the MSCA-DN UPCYCLE application pages! Do not use the link to KU Leuven’s online application tool below.
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