Research Fellow : Experimental study of ammonia medium-duty engine : effect of H2 blending versus diesel pilot ignition (HYCOMBS Project)

HYCOMBS Project is looking for a Research Fellow : Experimental study of ammonia medium-duty engine : effect of H2 blending versus diesel pilot ignition (HYCOMBS Project) HYCOMBS PROJECT HYCOMBS: Hydrogen and Ammonia Combustion in SingaporeIn the future, Singapore may be importing renewable energy in the form of hydrogen (H2) or ammonia (NH3). These zero-carbon fuels will require the development of new gas turbines (GTs) and internal combustion engines (ICE) used in power generation, aviation, and maritime propulsion. This project focuses on the combustion fundamentals of hydrogen, ammonia, their blends, and their blends with hydrocarbon fuels. The knowledge acquired in HYCOMBS will enable the penetration of zero-carbon fuels in the Singapore energy system and this will benefit Singaporean industries and residents. Read more about the HYCOMBS project here. DESCRIPTION In the WP4 of HYCOMBS project, the objective is to improve the combustion process in a medium-duty engine. Retrofit engine to fill with ammonia requires some small changes, mainly relative to its auto-ignition characteristics. If the compression ratio is not higher than 20, to reach compression ignition, more reactive species are needed as the pilot injection of diesel (Advanced Compression Ignition Engine) or to add a spark plug (Si engine with diesel flowfield). Up today, even if the number of works on Ammonia engine increases (80 papers in 2024), it is evident that the processes are not sufficiently characterized to develop accurate tools to predict these combustion development specificities. The objective of this post-doc position is first to provide accurate experimental database highly resolved in space and time to study the fundamentals of combustion using NH3, blended with H2 or Diesel type fuel to help CFD model development. Experimental engine tests will be done in light duty and medium duty in Orléans University to evaluate the scale change and as a function of the 2 ignition strategies. Combustion specifications, performances and pollutant emissions with a special attention of the NOx emissions will be characterized and analyzed. The database will be useful to conduct simulation with NTU team but also some auto-ignition data (like knock analysis) analysis will be done in collaboration with Tohoku university and University of Cambridge. Reference 1) Xinyi Zhou, Tie Li, Ning Wang, Xinran Wang, Run Chen, Shiyan Li, Pilot diesel-ignited ammonia dual fuel low-speed marine engines: A comparative analysis of ammonia premixed and high-pressure spray combustion modes with CFD simulation, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 173, 2023, 113108, 2) William F. Northrop, Modeling nitrogen species from ammonia reciprocating engine combustion in temperature-equivalence ratio space, Applications in Energy and Combustion Science, Volume 17, 2024, 100245, 3) Dupuy A, Brequigny P, Schmid A, Frapolli N, Mounaïm-Rousselle C, The Journal of Ammonia Energy 01 (2023) 011–020, Experimental study of RCCI engine – Ammonia combustion with diesel pilot injection EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS Ph.D. in mechanical engineering Skills: • Experience of engine experiments with combustion analysis • strong experience with post-processing tools for engine combustion analyses • 0D-1D modelling • oral and written communication to report to the partners and for conferences and peer-review journal. FURTHER INFORMATION & CONTACT Salary range: SGD 6,900 – SGD 10,000 (depending on suitability and experience) Start: September 2026 Duration: 18 months Workplace address: The applicant will be a CNRS@CREATE appointee (CREATE Campus, CREATE Tower, 1 Create Way #08-01 Singapore 138602), and work on CREATE Campus, with several stays at Laboratoire PRISME (https://www.univ-orleans.fr/fr/prisme) to conduct experiments. Interested applicants, please contact: Pr. Christine MOUNAÏM-ROUSSELLE, christine.rousselle@univ-orleans.fr Subject template for application by email: HYCOMBS – Position – Name of the offer. Documents: CV and a recommendation letter to be sent directly by the candidate to the supervisors.