Recycling of acrylic plastics: understanding how to achieve virgin-quality monomer product from chemical recycling technologies.

Reference

ENG1559

Closing Date

Tuesday, 27th September 2022

Department

Engineering

We are seeking applicants with a process engineering background to start in Autumn 2022 on a project with Mitsubishi Chemical UK Ltd. The funded studentship is the result of a major expansion of a programme to decarbonise the entire value chain around acrylic polymer manufacturing. Chemical recycling of current and legacy acrylic materials is a key challenge that needs to be met in order to realise the broader decarbonisation programme, and microwave heating has been identified as a key enabling technology that can meet this challenge. Mitsubishi Chemical have partnered with the University of Nottingham to carry out this work due to their world-leading expertise in microwave heating technologies. The partnership aims to better understand the impact of material properties and processing conditions on recycled product and its ability to displace fossil resources in the acrylic manufacturing process. A continuous, industrial-scale demonstration process will be developed towards the end of the programme.
The aim of the PhD project will be to gain better understanding of how both microwave and conventional heating technologies can be used to process waste plastic and produce monomer product that is of sufficient quality to re-use in acrylic manufacture. Working with the industry partner, other PhD students and project team members the successful candidate will establish and model concepts for refining feedstock and crude monomer to the required quality, where challenges will be around variable feedstock composition and the separation of close-boiling components. These refining processes will be combined with new technologies for acrylic recycling to produce a number of system-level process models that can be used to establish feedstock-technology-product relationships. These models will in turn be used to direct technology development for recycling processes and to develop a broader industry implementation strategy for recycled acrylic, optimising the acrylic circular value chain.
This is an excellent opportunity for an enthusiastic first or upper second class graduate in a process engineering discipline to develop expertise and key skills in the sustainable manufacture and recycling of plastics, and to establish relationships with international academic and industrial partners.
The project will be part of the EPSRC-supported Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) "Resilient Decarbonised Fuel Energy Systems". The student who undertakes it will be one of a cohort of over 50 students in a broad range of disciplines across the Universities of Sheffield, Nottingham and Cardiff.

Please apply to the University of Nottingham.  

Please apply here https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/how-to-apply/apply-online.aspx

When applying for this studentship, please include the reference number (beginning ENG and supervisors name) within the personal statement section of the application. This will help in ensuring your application is sent directly to the academic advertising the studentship. 
Informal enquiries may be sent to Prof. John Robinson ([email protected]). Please note that applications sent directly to those email addresses will not be accepted.