We are working with the LFIM lab headed by Prof. Queen to develop novel adsorbents optimised for carbon capture. As part of this project, you will be responsible for structuring adsorbent powder into pellets or other forms (extrusion, laminate, foam, etc.) to minimise the pressure drop across a fixed-bed. You will be asked to synthesise the materials, try different techniques of structurisation and characterise them to compare the different methods and make sure that the adsorbents retain the same properties.

We are working with the LAS lab headed by Prof. Agrawal to scale up the manufacturing of novel graphene membranes optimised for carbon capture. As part of this project, you will be performing different experiments in the lab related to the different steps of the synthesis of the graphene membranes to increase the produced area. This can include CVD synthesis of single layer graphene, ozone treatment, polymer support transfer, module design, etc.

The weight concentration of CO2 in the air is only 0.06%. So to capture 6kg of CO2, we need to move 10’000 kg of Air. You can directly see the problem when scaling up, especially if we have considerate pressure drop. Your role is to design an aerodynamic housing for the adsorbent bed, with the fan system that will push air through it. You will also have to study the naturally created air currents through different locations (Switzwerland or other) to benefit from natural winds. To validate the optimal solution, you are required to simulate the air movement through the bed and build it to experimentally test it. You will be collaborating with the heat transfer project to build one prototype that optimises both aerodynamics and heat transfer.

Adsorption is a very energy intensive process. As part of this project, you will be required to design an adsorption column with an integrated heat exchanger to minimise energy consumption. You will be comparing different ways to provide heat to the adsorbents inside the bed and choosing an optimal solution. To validate the optimal solution, you are required to simulate the heat exchanger system and to build the bed to experimentally test it. You will be collaborating with the aerodynamics project to build one prototype that optimises both aerodynamics and heat transfer.

You will be responsible for reasoning from first principles to deduce what would be the most efficient system for Direct Air Capture. You will be comparing the energy of our system and other different separation mechanisms to deduce what would be the optimal way of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere. To accomplish this, you will be responsible for developing a numerical simulation for fixed-bed adsorption processes. Given material properties, the simulator should be able to calculate the evolution of the concentration of the different components, the temperature and the pressure across space and across time. Once the simulation is performed, you will have to optimise the different parameters related with the process. If time permits, you will also look at optimising the material properties to deduce an ideal material for carbon capture. The simulator will have to be validated by experimental results obtained in our lab.