The National Energy Technology Laboratory's (NETL's) record of success has been built on understanding the future of energy and the technologies required to make that future possible. We’ve long touted our success in developing the technologies that took on acid rain in the 1970s and mercury in the early 2000s. More recently, NETL has a leading role in President Biden’s ambitious climate goals, including a carbon emission-free power sector by 2035 and a net-zero economy by 2050.

Program Goals

The NETL Postgraduate Research Program (PGRP) is a high-intensity program designed to identify recent Master’s and Doctoral graduates of high promise and to foster advanced skill development. It allows the postgraduate to systematically outline career goals and helps provide the means of achieving these goals. NETL principal investigators and leads serve as mentors to PGRP participants during the program. This interaction affords the postgraduate a unique opportunity to develop critical skills needed to become an independent professional.

The program goals include providing the opportunity to participants to:

• Develop skills and knowledge in their field of study
• Engage with new areas of basic and applied research
• Network with world-class scientists
• Exchange ideas and skills with the Laboratory community
• Use state-of-the-art equipment
• Contribute to answers for today's pressing scientific questions
• Collaborate with the broader scientific and technical communities

Project Details

Through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), this posting seeks a post-Doctoral or post-Master's researcher to engage in projects with the Research Innovation Center (RIC) at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in the area of Gasification under the mentorship of Steven Rowan. This project will be hosted at the NETL Morgantown, WVcampus.

This project involves the (1) development and application of fluidized bed gasification technologies for clean hydrogen production via co-gasification of biomass and waste plastics/municipal solid waste (MSW); (2) experimental analysis of reacting flows (including reaction kinetics) in a laboratory-scale multiphase flow-based gasifier unit as well as measurement of flow phenomena during gasifier operation; (3) application of multiple experimental techniques including material characterization techniques such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), etc.; and (4) the characterization of flow phenomena using Particle Image Velocimetry, Laser Doppler Velocimetry, fiber-optic sensor probes and high speed pressure transducers. The data collected form these experiments will be used to develop engineering relationships and for CFD model validation.

The selected participant will engage in:

• Laboratory experiments to study reaction kinetics and characterization of products (gas, liquid tars, and solids) produced during co-gasification of biomass and waste plastics/municipal solid waste materials.
• Cold flow hydrodynamic testing in a circulating fluidized bed riser.
• High temperature co-gasification studies in a lab-scale gasifier capable of operating in the circulating fluidized bed, bubbling bed, and moving bed configurations.
• The generation of reports summarizing experimental findings.
• The preparation and presentation of experimental findings at conferences or journal publications.

Stipend: The selected participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

• Post-Master's stipends start at $3,720 per month.
• Post-Doctoral stipends start at $5,518 per month.
  Actual stipend rate offered may be increased based on experience.

Deliverables: To document the effectiveness of the program, participants are required to submit a pre-appointment and post-appointment survey, as well as a reflection on their appointment experience when they renew or end their appointment. The reflection should summarize their project(s), additional activities, and overall experience. Details are provided as the appointment end date approaches.
Participants may also have the opportunity to contribute to manuscripts, journal articles, book chapters, conference presentations, posters, patents, and other publications as a part of their appointment. Such achievements should also be reported to ORISE; additional details are provided after an offer has been accepted.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory system, is owned and operated by the DOE. NETL supports the DOE mission to advance the energy security of the United States. This is an educational opportunity offered by NETL and administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. Participants in the program are not considered employees of NETL, DOE, the program administrator, or any other office or agency.