PhD in Integrating desalination and concentrated solar power using advanced CO2 blend power cycle

Start date: Jan 2022 

Duration of Award: 3 years

1st Supervisor: Dr. Kumar Patchigolla   

2nd Supervisor: Dr. Dhinesh Thanganadar

Sponsorship

Sponsored by EU H2020 DESOLINATION project in partnership with Cranfield Industrial PhD partnership scheme (CIPPS), this studentship will provide a bursary of up to £18,000 (tax free) plus fees* for three years.

Solar thermal desalination from seawater is an attractive option to achieve sustainable water production with minimum/zero liquid discharge. Reducing the cost of desalination is a key for affordability, therefore unitisation of waste heat to drive the thermal desalination is considered. Supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2 ) cycles achieve higher efficiency than conventional steam Rankine cycle with a very compact plant footprint, facilitating the capital cost reduction of the concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. This student project will design power cycles using different novel CO2 blends to drive desalination plant, funded by EU-H2020 DESOLINATION project in partnership with Cranfield Industrial PhD partnership scheme.

Water-related disasters account for 70% of all the deaths related to natural disasters and a world bank prediction shows that the world will face 40% shortfall in meeting the forecast water demand by 2030. Thermal desalination using seawater is an attractive option as low-grade dirt-cheap heat can be used to drive the desalination plant as opposed to reverse osmosis technology, where high-quality electricity is used.

Advanced CO2 power cycles are more efficient than steam Rankine cycle with a higher potential to reduce the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE). Addition of novel blends with CO2 facilitates integrating the heat rejection from the power cycle to drive an innovative forward osmosis technology. This student project will explore and design advanced power cycle using different novel CO2 blends to enable integrating concentrated solar-driven power cycle with innovative thermal desalination technology, which significantly lowers levelised cost of water and LCOE.

This student project will aim to design, optimise and developing controls of advanced CO2 blend-based power cycle for 1 MWe demonstration plant in Saudi Arabia. The student will be developing the steady-state thermodynamic modelling for the advanced CO2 blend-based power cycle and performance optimisation for different blends. Also, the student will develop a dynamic model of the power cycle for developing plant controls, which will be used to investigate severe operational conditions. In addition, this student project will also explore the cycle improvements with different novel blend combinations for different concentrating solar technologies including parabolic trough and state-of-the-art/ next-generation central power tower plant. Throughout this PhD programme, the student will develop an enhanced understanding of engineering challenges associated with scale-up that informs the construction and operation of systems.

Entry requirements

Applicants should have a first or upper second-class UK Honours degree or equivalent in a related discipline, such as Chemical/Process Engineering or Mechanical/Renewable/Industrial Engineering. The ideal candidate should have clear understanding on the steady-state and transient modelling of the power plant and programming skills. The candidate should be self-motivated, have good communication skills for regular interaction with academic community and other stakeholders and have and strong interest for industrial research.

How to apply

If you are eligible to apply for this studentship, please complete the online application form on our website.