Open Positions

The description of the kinetics of precipitation and crystallization processes for phosphorus recovery from wastewater is essential to understand the influence of key process parameters such as temperature, flocculant concentration, and flow field.

This PhD project focuses on the crystallization and precipitation processes of magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP) from wastewater. The experimental investigation will be performed by kinetic measurements in both lab-scale and pilot-scale crystallizers. The study will address the fundamental microprocesses of crystal growth, breakage, and attrition, which will be analyzed using single-particle experiments and simulated through the Discrete Element Method (DEM) coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).
 

The core scientific tasks of this PhD will be:

• Determination of material functions required to describe crystallization mechanisms
• Measurement of crystallization kinetics using a self-developed online extension sensor
• CFD-DEM simulations of fluid and particle dynamics
• Physical description and parametrization of PBM kernels within multiscale modeling
• Design of the pilot-scale setup and validation of the model
   

Requirements for applicants:

• Excellent Master degree (M.Sc.) or equivalent in process engineering or physics
• Experience relating to crystallization, particle measurement techniques, and DEM-CFD/PBM simulation is beneficial though not essential
• Proficient in the English language and willingness to learn German (for non-German speaking persons)  
   

You can send your application for this PhD topic to: sergiy.antonyuk[at]mv.rptu.de