PhD Studentship: Understanding the Mechanisms of Underground Storage of Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen

A fully funded 3.5 year Ph.D. studentship is available to UK nationals and outstanding international students, with Professors Lynn Gladden, Mick Mantle and Andy Sederman, to start 1 October 2025.

Underground storage of carbon dioxide and hydrogen will play an important role in the energy transition and the delivery of net zero because the storage can be done at scale. However, the demands of underground carbon dioxide (UCS) and underground hydrogen storage (UHS) are very different. In the case of UCS, we need to store large quantities of carbon dioxide for the long term, whilst UHS requires the temporary storage of hydrogen through the seasons such that it can be recovered for use as an energy vector when needed. UCS is, of course, much more widely studied than UHS.

The aim of this project is to understand the micro-scale physical and chemical processes occurring in rocks when carbon dioxide and hydrogen are injected into them. The scientific challenge here is that a depleted hydrocarbon reservoir, where gas storage would take place, is very different from a pure synthetically made porous material. In addition to chemical and structural differences of different rock types, the pores into which the carbon dioxide or hydrogen is injected contain varying levels of sea-water and residual hydrocarbon. This is a very complex system, but if not studied including this complexity it is unlikely that relevant insights will be obtained.

The project will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), just as you would in a medical application, to see inside the rock and investigate how carbon dioxide and hydrogen move and become immobile within the rock. How do they interact with the internal surface of the rock? Do emulsions form within the rock? Do any chemical interactions occur? How are these characteristics changed by the rate at which the gas is injected? How does the brine, gas, residual hydrocarbon system evolve over time? The images we will acquire will provide unique datasets against which to validate numerical codes developed by our collaborators. The ambition is to be able to optimise selection of storage sites and the methods of injection such that carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases can be stored and accessed safely and effectively.

Applicants can only be considered for this studentship if they meet the Department's entry criteria :  https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/directory/egcepdcng/requirements

Applicants for the studentships should have a First Class (or a high 2:1) or equivalent degree in a relevant discipline such as chemical engineering, engineering, chemistry or physics. If your degree was taken outside the UK, please check the International Qualifications before you apply:  https://www.postgraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/before/international-qualifications 

To apply for these studentships, you will need to submit a formal application for our PhD in Chemical Engineering programme, which is available at the entry criteria page above. You will need to note Profs Lynn Gladden, Andy Sederman, and Mick Mantle as your prospective supervisor, and you will need to note vacancy reference number NQ45087 in the research proposal field. We are unable to consider late or incomplete applications.

Please quote reference NQ45087 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

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