Meeting The National Water Demand For Hydrogen Production

Details

The decarbonisation of the UK economy is poised to be revolutionised by hydrogen technology, particularly through the clean production of hydrogen via water electrolysis. While the UK’s energy system is capable of supplying the necessary electricity, the substantial water demand associated with hydrogen production requires thorough exploration. This project aims to assess future water needs in the context of hydrogen scenarios and identify emission-free solutions, including the potential deployment of additional desalination plants to meet the extra demands and how these may also be decarbonised to maintain a sustainable hydrogen generation chain.

This PhD project will encompass two interlinked work streams:

Water Demand Mapping: Analyse national water demand based on the various hydrogen pathways for the UK, integrating a spatial analysis of water availability to determine the additional supply needed beyond what is currently available. This analysis will lay the groundwork for developing water production capacity pathways.

Decarbonisation of Desalination: Investigate available decarbonisation strategies for desalination plants within the broader UK energy system. You will employ risk-based optimisation approaches to select appropriate strategies, utilising available demand profiles to ensure the sustainability of hydrogen production.

We invite enthusiastic candidates with a background in environmental science, engineering, or related fields to apply for this exciting opportunity in the Brown Group in collaboration with Anglian Water to develop skills in spatial-analysis, optimisation and economic analysis, as well as contribute to the UK’s hydrogen economy. 

How to Apply:

Please see this link for information on how to apply: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/cbe/postgraduate/phd/how-apply. Please include the name of your proposed supervisor and the title of the PhD project within your application.

The candidate will require a good first degree with strong mathematical skills in Engineering, Physics, Mathematics or similar discipline.

If English is not your first language then you must have an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) average of 6.5 or above with at least 6.0 in each component, or equivalent. Please see this link for further information: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply/english-language.