Intensified solvent extractions for isotopic enrichment of fusion reactor metals

Vacancy information

The Department of Chemical Engineering at University College London (UCL) is one of the top research and teaching departments in the UK with a world-class standing. The department has an extensive research portfolio across a wealth of areas, from the molecular scale to the scale of industrial plants, that is collaborative, ground-breaking and focused on solving Grand Challenges in areas such as sustainable energy and manufacturing, health and the environment.

The Department is seeking an enthusiastic and dedicated PhD student to conduct research on intensified separation technologies for isotopic enrichment or separation of fusion reactor relevant materials.

The studentship is fully funded for 4 years, starting in September 2025 or shortly thereafter.

Studentship description

Isotopic enrichment is a key technology that could minimise radioactive waste, reduce reactor shutdown times (by reducing activity that impacts on maintenance) and, crucially, enable a fusion reactor to be self-sufficient in tritium. For example, removing the problematic W isotopes from the first wall of the reactor, can reduce the cooling period before maintenance activities can begin. Enrichment of lithium is also needed to enable efficient tritium breeding. Present technologies are energy intensive, involve large volumes of hazardous materials and may not be suitable for scaling to large volumes of required.

Small channel contactors offer significant advantages because of increased interfacial areas and enhanced mass transfer rates which lead to process intensification.

In this project, small channel contactors will be used coupled with appropriate extractant/solvent configurations for fusion-relevant metal separations to prove the feasibility and scalability of this technology for fusion.

Person specification

We are looking for an enthusiastic and dedicated PhD student with an interest in process intensification, energy and sustainability. The successful candidate must hold a minimum 2:1 in MEng or MSc degree or will be close to completing it in chemical engineering or a closely related discipline. The successful applicant should be able to work independently while being a productive member in a collaborative team.

Eligibility

A minimum 2:1 degree at the MEng or MSc level in chemical engineering or a closely related discipline is required.

Funds are only available to cover UK-equivalent fees. Overseas students may apply, provided they can independently cover the difference between UK and overseas tuition fees.

Applications should be submitted through:

https://evision.ucl.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=RRDCENSING01&code2=0039

Please nominate Prof Panagiota Angeli as supervisor and include a statement of interest.

For informal enquiries please contact Prof Panagiota Angeli at [email protected].

For further information on the MPhil/PhD course as well as the recruitment and selection process, please click on the link below:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/chemical-engineering/study/mphilphd