Northwestern University is seeking a post-doctoral candidate to evaluate and quanitfy opportunities to cost effectively achieve decarbonization in the unconventional natural gas supply chain. Unconventional natural gas and associated natural gas liquids (NGL) can be used as feedstocks for producing fuels and chemicals. These pathways are under development and investigation in the National Science Foundation's Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR). The successful candidate will work wtih members of this Engineering Research Center (ERC), in particular industrial members, to characterize and quantify opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the production of unconventional natural gas and NGLs. With global methane levels at record highs, it is critical to develop a robust and detailed understanding of the unconventional natural gas system and opportunities to reduce emissions from it.
Desired knowledge and experience areas for competitive candidates include:
- Production routes of fuels from petroleum and natural gas
- Chemical process modeling
- Optimization
- Life cycle analysis methodology
Qualified individuals should have a Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering or a related field. Candidates should have significant expertise in working with MS Excel and other relevant software. Knowledge of process modeling software including AspenPlus is also desired. Programming in Python, R, Matlab, Java, or a similar language is desirable. Good oral and written communication skills are also required.