About Energy 2050

Energy 2050 is one of the UK’s largest energy research institutes. Based at the University of Sheffield, it has over 120 academics and more than 250 PhD students undertaking energy research and innovation.

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PhD Opportunities

Energy 2050 is committed to developing world-leading activity in energy research and we host a vibrant international community of more than 250 students undertaking energy PhDs.

Below is a list of some of our current projects, for more general information on postgraduate studies, see 'study with us'

Funded opportunities

See below for some of our most recent opportunities funded by the university, industry, research bodies or other partners.

Engineering Doctorate (EngD): Predicting Performance of Intensified Carbon Capture Inside Rotating Packed Beds using CFD Modelling

This project will utilise and develop your knowledge surrounding CFD modelling, mass and heat transfer, reaction kinetics and chemical equilibria.

Investigating the benefits of using palletised eHGV batteries for transport fleet electrification/decarbonisation

This project addresses a currently under-investigated aspect of the government push to net zero, and the issues surrounding decarbonisation of commercial fleet vehicles.

Development of direct air capture (DAC) technology driven by renewable energy and CO2 conversion to fuel

The project will be part of the EPSRC-supported Centre for Doctoral Training in Resilient Decarbonised Fuel Energy Systems. The student who undertakes it will be 1 of a cohort of over 50 students in a broad range of disciplines across multiple Unis.

Self-funded opportunities

See below for some of our most recent opportunities for self-funded PhDs.

Adjoint optimisation of aero engine fuel passages

The work in this project aims to investigate shape optimisation of fuel passages to reduce propensity for fuel deposition on wetted surfaces.

Development of efficient methodology for large deformations in conjugate heat transfer simulations

The aim of this project is to develop a methodology based on radial basis function in which large deformations due to deposition growth, can be accurately captured in the fluid and solid domains.

Development of a Lattice-Boltzmann based model for the deposition process in chemically reacting flows

The aim of this project is to utilise the Lattice-Boltzmann method, which does not require a computational grid to resolve the flow field in order to develop a deposition model for chemically reacting flows.

Generation of automated chemical reaction pathways for aviation fuels

The aim of this work is to develop an optimisation procedure aimed towards the automatic generation of chemical reaction networks for fuel thermal degradation.

Development of a new model for particle wall deposition on heated surfaces

This project aims to implement a slip wall boundary condition in a CFD code and investigate the effects for modelling deposition on heated surfaces.

Effects of nozzle design and surface temperature on the wall shear stresses of impinging jets

This project will investigate the effects of nozzle design, Reynolds number and incoming fluid temperature on the developed wall shear stresses and their fluctuations of impinging jets, using CFD.

Numerical investigation of insoluble deposition on heated surfaces

This work will provide a deeper understanding of the wall attachment process and therefore assist in the future development of
deposition models.

Impeller shape optimisation for improved mixing in stirred reactors

The work in this project will first identify suitable impeller designs for batch reactors, and then develop a CFD methodology by which numerical shape optimisation can be performed

PhD Opportunities by category

For a full list of our PhD projects, and for more information on these PhD projects, please see use the categories below to navigate through our range of options. It is important to stress that the exact topic of the research will be tailored to the strengths of the candidate and the relevance to ongoing research within the Energy Engineering group.

Energy Infrastructure and Integration energy-infrastructure-integration

Energy Policy and Analysis energy-policy-analysis