Master thesis - Hydrogen and Methanol Demand: Techno-economic Design of an Innovative Process Chain

Your Job:

Hydrogen is seen as a vital enabler for the transformation to a sustainable and greenhouse gas-neutral energy system worldwide. Global demand for hydrogen has already increased significantly in recent years. A further significant increase is expected in the coming years, driven by the growing interest in green and renewable energy sources. Methanol, however, is already an important base chemical and is used globally in various industries. The demand for methanol is highly dependent on the respective economic and industrial conditions, both globally and regionally. To enable a techno-economically cost-optimal design of a process chain for the production of green hydrogen and methanol, it is necessary to carefully analyze both global and regional demand and to estimate their future developments. In the scope of the DryHy project ( https://www.dryhy.de/de ) such an innovative process chain is researched. Your master thesis will contribute to the research project by evaluating the status quo of global and regional demand for hydrogen and methanol, as well as analyze existing demand forecasts. In the second part of your work, you will investigate the impact of the researched demand scenarios on the techno-economic design of the DryHy process.
To this end, you will:

• Conduct a literature review covering current hydrogen and methanol demand as well as existing forecasts (e.g., World Energy Outlook)
  
• Derive demand scenarios for the DryHy-process
  
• Analyze and visualize the results
  
• Investigate the impact of demand scenarios on a techno-economic process chain model utilizing the ETHOS.FINE framework: https://github.com/FZJ-IEK3-VSA/FINE

Your Profile:

• You are studying engineering, industrial engineering or a comparable course of study
  
• Interest in the challenges of the energy transition and its economic consequences
  
• A high degree of independence and the ability to analyze and address complex issues
  
• At best, you already have some knowledge and experience in programming (preferably in Python)
  
• Very good knowledge in German or English
  

Please feel free to apply for the position even if you do not have all the required skills and knowledge. We might also be able to train you any missing knowledge.

Our Offer:

We work on cutting-edge innovative topics and offer you the opportunity to actively shape change! With us, you will have the opportunity to become an expert on global hydrogen and methanol demand in what is perhaps the most relevant topic of our century for the entire society, the energy transition. We offer you:

• An interesting and socially relevant topic for your thesis with a forward-looking theme
  
• Highly motivated, international working group in one of the largest research centers in Europe
  
• Intensive supervision at a flexible workplace (100% home office possible)
  
• Excellent scientific equipment and the latest technology
  
• Flexible working hours and adequate remuneration
  

In addition to exciting tasks and a collaborative working atmosphere at Jülich, we have a lot more to offer: https://go.fzj.de/benefits

The position is initially for a fixed term of 6 months.

We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds, e.g. in terms of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation / identity, and social, ethnic and religious origin. A diverse and inclusive working environment with equal opportunities in which everyone can realize their potential is important to us.