Senior Thermal CFD Engineer – High-Temp Reacting Flows

Nitricity; Fremont (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental insurance

401k plan with matching

Parental leave

3 weeks of paid vacation

Job summary

Nitricity in Fremont, CA, is seeking a Thermal Design Engineer II / Senior Thermal Design Engineer to lead CFD-driven design of megawatt-scale reactors and heat-recovery systems. You will build high-temperature flow and kinetics models, guide quench sections, and collaborate with chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineers to optimize performance.

The role requires hands-on CFD with turbulence-chemistry coupling, Python scripting for automation, and experience with ANSYS Fluent/OpenFOAM.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of relevant experience in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, combustion, or reacting flows.
• Experience running reacting-flow CFD simulations of high-temperature gas flows.
• Strong grounding in turbulence modeling and radiation heat transfer.
• Experience coupling kinetic mechanisms to flow simulations.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD and preparing meshes for simulation.

Responsibilities

• Build, run, and validate CFD models of high-temperature air flows in plasma reactors.
• Couple chemical kinetics to flow solvers to predict NO formation and fixation yield.
• Guide design of reactors, quench sections, and heat recovery equipment.
• Develop and simplify kinetic mechanisms; perform sensitivity analyses.
• Collaborate with experimental team to plan diagnostics and validate models.
• Translate CFD results into design recommendations and specs.

Skills

CFD modelling

Python scripting

3D CAD

turbulence-chemistry interaction

heat transfer

Education

BS or MS in Mechanical, Chemical, or Aerospace Engineering

Tools

ANSYS Fluent

STAR-CCM+

OpenFOAM

Cantera/CHEMKIN

SolidWorks/Onshape

Job description

Nitricity in Fremont, CA, is seeking a Thermal Design Engineer II / Senior Thermal Design Engineer to lead CFD-driven design of megawatt-scale reactors and heat-recovery systems. You will build high-temperature flow and kinetics models, guide quench sections, and collaborate with chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineers to optimize performance.

The role requires hands-on CFD with turbulence-chemistry coupling, Python scripting for automation, and experience with ANSYS Fluent/OpenFOAM.