UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
RECRUITMENT ROLE PROFILE FORM
Job Title:
Research Associate/Fellow in Combustion Characterisation
Faculty:
Faculty of Engineering
Salary:
£25,769 to £37,768 per annum, depending on skills and
experience (minimum £28,982 with relevant PhD). Salary
progression beyond this scale is subject to performance
Job Family and Level:
Research and Teaching, Level 4a/Level 4
Contract Status:
This post is available from 15 February 2016 and will be
offered on a fixed term contract until 31 December 2017
Hours of Work:
Full-time (36.25 hours per week)
Location:
University Park Campus & Jubilee Campus
Reporting to:
Dr Chenggong Sun, Prof. Hao Liu and Prof Colin Snape
Purpose of the New Role:
Nottingham had recently been awarded a major industrial research contract to conduct
investigations of the slagging and fouling behaviour of pulverised fuel (PF) combustion in utility
boilers. Ash deposition problems are one of the primary causes of reduced boiler efficiency,
unscheduled shutdowns, and increased maintenance costs. Ash deposition and related issues
cost the global power generation industry billions of dollars annually, mainly as a result of
reduced power generation efficiency and availability, and increased equipment maintenance.
In collaboration with our industrial partner, this large project aims to advance the
understanding of mineral transformation and ash deposition behaviour in PF combustion to aid
the development of advanced slagging and fouling predictive tools for large scale PF utility
boilers.
Main Responsibilities
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
% time
per year
To conduct pyrolysis and/or combustion tests using both laboratory-scale (droptube furnace) and pilot-scale (1 MWth) combustion facilities under different
operational conditions; to design deposition probes and conduct laboratory-scale
and pilot-scale ash deposition tests
To assist or when necessary, work along with the Research Fellow in
Combustion Characterisation on the same project to characterise fuel and ash
deposit samples, using a range of standard characterisation techniques, such as
TGA, CCSEM and/or SEM-MLA, XRD, XRF, TMA dilatometry etc.
Interact with the industrial partner to develop slagging and fouling predictive
methodologies for utility boilers.
Assist the Principal Investigator of the project to co-ordinate research activities
and liaison with industrial sponsor/partners
Disseminate research results through publishing research papers in peerreviewed international journals, delivering oral/poster presentations at project
meetings and national/international workshops/conferences where appropriate
Co-supervise research students who are doing research projects related to PF
combustion within the research group
Any other duties appropriate to the grade and role.
Recruitment
60%
20%
5%
5%
5%
5%
Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience
Qualifications/
Education
Skills/Training
Essential
PhD (or about to obtain) or equivalent
in an appropriate discipline e.g.
chemical engineering, mechanical or
power plant engineering
Excellent hands-on skills in a laboratory
environment
Excellent understanding of PF
combustion in utility boilers
Desirable
PhD (or about to obtain) or
equivalent in areas relevant to PF
combustion and steam power
plant engineering
Practical skills in designing ash
deposition testing probes and
conduct ash deposition tests with
different combustion rigs.
Practical skills in designing and
organising high temperature PF
combustion tests
Excellent understanding of ash
formation, slagging and fouling.
Experience
Experience in conducting material
characterisation using SEM/ EDX, XRD,
TGA etc.
Practical operational experience with
high temperature test facilities and
coating deposition techniques.
Experience in delivering presentations
at national/international consortium
meetings, workshops or conferences.
Personal
attributes
Experience in publishing research
results in peer-reviewed journals (a
minimum of 1 published/accepted SCIjournal papers over the past three
years) .
Excellent organisation skills.
Specific experience in operating
combustion
testing
facilities,
including
drop
tube
furnace
and/or
pilot-scale
combustion
rigs.
Relevant postdoctoral research
experience in appropriate areas.
Experience in writing grant
proposals.
Self-motivating and ability to
work with minimum supervision.
Excellent interpersonal skills and team
working.
Ability to take initiatives and
make effective plans
Excellent written and verbal
communication skills.
Ability to deliver according to
deadlines.
Decision Making
i)




ii)




taken independently by the role holder
Day-to-day research tasks’ management and organisation.
Decisions regarding experimental design, undertaking experiments and analysis of
results.
Safe operating practices within laboratories.
Preparing draft reports, papers and presentations.
taken in collaboration with others
Modification and maintenance of combustion testing facilities
Modify the combustion rigs to better suit the research needs
Purchase of small consumable items for experimentation.
Writing and submission of papers to academic journals/conferences,
reports/presentations and grant applications.
progress
iii)
referred to the appropriate line managers (Dr Chenggong Sun, Prof. Hao Liu and Colin
Snape) by the role holder
 Decisions affecting the long-term focus and direction of the research.
 Interactions with industrial partners and other stakeholders than the academic partners
of the project.
 Purchase of larger items of consumables/equipment and repair/service of any
equipment.