PhD Studentship: Multi-scale investigation on salt formations for disposal and storage applications

No. of positions available: 1

This 3.5 year PhD project is fully funded and home students, and EU students with settled status, are eligible to apply. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£19,237 for 2024/25) and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year.

Salt formations can effectively isolate nuclear waste over geologic timescales under subsurface conditions, and an improved understanding of the complex processes will enhance repository design and safety. This project aims to characterise salt behavior under repository conditions for sealing ability over time.

Although some modeling work has been conducted by scholars and within our team, as well as characterisation studies on salts in the USA and Europe, there is a notable lack of experimental evidence on UK salts. To address this gap, this project will focus on experimental investigations multi-phase flow and triaxial rigs to perform gas transport, chemical reactions, mechanical tests and microstructure analysis under complex conditions. The experimental rigs have been developed by the primary supervisor, with unique capacity of conduct experimental work under high-temperature, high-pressure, fluid, and chemical environments. The supervisor’s extensive expertise in experimental research on analogous materials, such as shale and mudstones, offers a strong foundation for this. The results of this project will enhance the scientific understanding of salt formations as nuclear waste repositories and support the development of safer and more reliable nuclear waste disposal solutions.

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.

To apply, please contact the main supervisor, Dr Ma - lin.ma@manchester.ac.uk. Please  include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

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