PhD in Electrically Heated Reactors for Dry Methane Reforming

Departments, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry; Eindhoven; On-site; EUR 36,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

ABP pension

Holiday allowance

Year-end bonus

Pension scheme

Job summary

Departments, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry in Eindhoven invites applications for a PhD project within HyCARB at TU/e, in collaboration with TU Delft. The work focuses on electrically heated reactors using renewable electricity to reform methane and CO₂, combining experiments around 10 kW with advanced CFD modeling.

You will investigate heating modes, surface vs volume effects, and participate in interdisciplinary collaboration with academia and industry partners, aiming to

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent in chemical/mechanical engineering, applied physics, or related discipline.
• Strong foundation in transport phenomena and reaction engineering.
• Experience with experimental reactors, CFD, finite-element methods or scientific programming is welcome.
• Fluency in English (C1) and good communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Test electrically heated reactors around 10 kW with and without catalytic dry methane reforming.
• Develop coupled CFD models of heating, transport and reactions.
• Compare surface and volume heating concepts and 3D-printed structures.
• Combine experiments and simulations to optimize reactor performance and guide scale-up.

Education

Master's degree

Tools

CFD

Finite elements

Programming

Job description

PhD in Electrically Heated Reactors for Dry Methane Reforming

Departments, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry

Introduction

How can renewable electricity turn CO₂ into valuable chemical building blocks? Combine hands‑on experiments and advanced modeling to develop electrically heated reactors within HyCARB at TU/e, in collaboration with TU Delft.

Job Description

Replacing fossil‑fired heating with renewable electricity offers exciting opportunities to redesign chemical reactors. By generating heat directly in the reactor wall or within the catalyst bed, electrical heating can improve heat delivery and enable compact, efficient processes. Achieving this requires a detailed understanding of how electrical energy input, fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reactions interact.

In this PhD project, you will investigate resistive, impedance, and inductive heating within tasks C1 and C2 of HyCARB. Your main application will be dry methane reforming: the conversion of methane and CO₂ into synthesis gas, a building block for producing chemicals and fuels.

You will investigate how surface and volume heating affect temperature distributions, transport phenomena, and catalytic performance during dry methane reforming, combining experiments at approximately 10 kW with coupled CFD modeling. You will develop and test electrically heated reactor concepts and build computational models that explain their behavior and guide their improvement. Experiments will validate the models, while simulations will help identify promising geometries, heating strategies, and operating conditions.

You will be based in the Sustainable Process Technology group at TU/e, supervised by Prof. Martin van Sint Annaland, with Prof. Johan Padding at TU Delft as joint supervisor. Within HyCARB, you will collaborate with researchers, technology developers, and industrial partners working on sustainable carbon conversion and electrification.

Your activities will include:

• Testing electrically heated reactors at approximately 10 kW scale, with and without catalytic dry methane reforming.
• Developing coupled CFD models of heating, transport and reactions.
• Comparing surface and volume heating concepts, including integrated 3D‑printed structures.
• Combining experiments and simulations to optimize reactor performance and guide scale‑up.

Job Requirements

• A master’s degree (or an equivalent university degree) in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, applied physics, or a closely related discipline.
• A strong foundation in transport phenomena and an interest in chemical reaction engineering and process electrification.
• Enthusiasm for both practical laboratory work and quantitative analysis. Experience with experimental reactors, numerical modeling, CFD, finite‑element methods or scientific programming is welcome.
• A research‑oriented attitude, scientific curiosity and initiative.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team and an interest in collaborating with industrial partners.
• Motivation to develop your teaching skills and coach students.
• Strong communication skills and fluency in spoken and written English (C1 level).

Conditions of Employment

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station.

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your four‑year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. € 3,204 – max. € 4,051 gross base salary per month (full‑time)).
• In addition to your base salary, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year‑end bonus, both calculated based on your annual gross base salary.
• Generous leave options: a standard 29 days (based on a 38 hour working week) per year that you can increase to 41 days by working two hours more per week (flexible working hours). This is prorated if you work part‑time.
• As a TU/e employee, you participate in the ABP pension scheme, providing retirement pension and pension benefits for surviving dependents and occupational disability. TU/e pays 70% of the pension premium, while employees contribute the remaining 30%.
• High‑quality training programs and other support to grow into a self‑aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, and on‑campus children's day care.
• We support your wellbeing with free 24/7 access to OpenUp, providing you and your family with mental health support, expert guidance, and online training.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.

We are a leading international university where scientific curiosity meets a hands‑on mindset. We work in an open and collaborative way with high‑tech industries to tackle complex societal challenges. Our responsible and respectful approach ensures impact – today and in the future. TU/e is home to over 13,000 students and more than 7,000 staff, forming a diverse and vibrant academic community. Discover what Light Up means to TU/e in our short company video.

Our university is located in Brainport Eindhoven – a world‑leading tech region with more than 7,000 high‑tech companies and strong R&D activity. Known for breakthroughs in AI, photonics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, Brainport is a place where technology serves people and society. Learn more about the Brainport region here.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry bridges science and engineering to create sustainable solutions for society. By combining expertise in molecules, materials, and processes, we drive innovations that address global challenges in energy, circularity, health and future technology. Through world‑class research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strong industry partnerships, we educate engineers and scientists who turn scientific discoveries into technologies with lasting societal impact. Together, we create chemistry for a better world.

Introduction

How can renewable electricity turn CO₂ into valuable chemical building blocks? Combine hands‑on experiments and advanced modeling to develop electrically heated reactors within HyCARB at TU/e, in collaboration with TU Delft.

Job Description

Replacing fossil‑fired heating with renewable electricity offers exciting opportunities to redesign chemical reactors. By generating heat directly in the reactor wall or within the catalyst bed, electrical heating can improve heat delivery and enable compact, efficient processes. Achieving this requires a detailed understanding of how electrical energy input, fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reactions interact.

In this PhD project, you will investigate resistive, impedance, and inductive heating within tasks C1 and C2 of HyCARB. Your main application will be dry methane reforming: the conversion of methane and CO₂ into synthesis gas, a building block for producing chemicals and fuels.

You will investigate how surface and volume heating affect temperature distributions, transport phenomena, and catalytic performance during dry methane reforming, combining experiments at approximately 10 kW with coupled CFD modeling. You will develop and test electrically heated reactor concepts and build computational models that explain their behavior and guide their improvement. Experiments will validate the models, while simulations will help identify promising geometries, heating strategies, and operating conditions.

You will be based in the Sustainable Process Technology group at TU/e, supervised by Prof. Martin van Sint Annaland, with Prof. Johan Padding at TU Delft as joint supervisor. Within HyCARB, you will collaborate with researchers, technology developers, and industrial partners working on sustainable carbon conversion and electrification.

Your activities will include:

• Testing electrically heated reactors at approximately 10 kW scale, with and without catalytic dry methane reforming.
• Developing coupled CFD models of heating, transport and reactions.
• Comparing surface and volume heating concepts, including integrated 3D‑printed structures.
• Combining experiments and simulations to optimize reactor performance and guide scale‑up.

Job Requirements

• A master’s degree (or an equivalent university degree) in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, applied physics, or a closely related discipline.
• A strong foundation in transport phenomena and an interest in chemical reaction engineering and process electrification.
• Enthusiasm for both practical laboratory work and quantitative analysis. Experience with experimental reactors, numerical modeling, CFD, finite‑element methods or scientific programming is welcome.
• A research‑oriented attitude, scientific curiosity and initiative.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team and an interest in collaborating with industrial partners.
• Motivation to develop your teaching skills and coach students.
• Strong communication skills and fluency in spoken and written English (C1 level).

Conditions of Employment

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station.

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your four‑year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. € 3,204 – max. € 4,051 gross base salary per month (full‑time)).
• In addition to your base salary, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year‑end bonus, both calculated based on your annual gross base salary.
• Generous leave options: a standard 29 days (based on a 38 hour working week) per year that you can increase to 41 days by working two hours more per week (flexible working hours). This is prorated if you work part‑time.
• As a TU/e employee, you participate in the ABP pension scheme, providing retirement pension and pension benefits for surviving dependents and occupational disability. TU/e pays 70% of the pension premium, while employees contribute the remaining 30%.
• High‑quality training programs and other support to grow into a self‑aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, and on‑campus children's day care.
• We support your wellbeing with free 24/7 access to OpenUp, providing you and your family with mental health support, expert guidance, and online training.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the Expat Scheme ) for international candidates.

On our website you can discover even more information about our conditions of employment . Build on your career at TU/e!

About us

We are a leading international university where scientific curiosity meets a hands‑on mindset. We work in an open and collaborative way with high‑tech industries to tackle complex societal challenges. Our responsible and respectful approach ensures impact – today and in the future. TU/e is home to over 13,000 students and more than 7,000 staff, forming a diverse and vibrant academic community. Discover what Light Up means to TU/e in our short company video.

Our university is located in Brainport Eindhoven – a world‑leading tech region with more than 7,000 high‑tech companies and strong R&D activity. Known for breakthroughs in AI, photonics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, Brainport is a place where technology serves people and society. Learn more about the Brainport region here.

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry bridges science and engineering to create sustainable solutions for society. By combining expertise in molecules, materials, and processes, we drive innovations that address global challenges in energy, circularity, health and future technology. Through world‑class research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and strong industry partnerships, we educate engineers and scientists who turn scientific discoveries into technologies with lasting societal impact. Together, we create chemistry for a better world.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact the hiring manager Prof. Martin van Sint Annaland, Sustainable Process Technology group, TU/e, [e-mail].

Visit our website for more information about the application process . You can also contact [e-mail].

Curious to hear more about what it’s like as a PhD candidate at TU/e? Please view the video.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.