CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarships provide enhanced opportunities in science and engineering for outstanding graduates enrolling in a PhD at Australian tertiary institutions. Collaborating with us to complete your PhD degree will give your research the edge. We offer you access to our leading scientists, engineers and mentors, the opportunity to take your research to the next level in our first-class facilities and first-hand experience in an environment where our innovative research really is changing the world for the better.
The CSIRO is offering a PhD Scholarship to conduct research into Solar Powered Direct Air Capture (SP-DAC).
Project Details:
Global warming and climate change are directly linked to ever-increasing anthropogenic fossil-based energy systems such as transport and industrial activities. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is widely recognised as one effective solution to reduce the emissions of energy-intensive industrial activities that involve ongoing use of fossil fuels. However, almost half of the global CO2 emissions are derived from non-point sources where most of the common carbon capture technologies are ineffective. Direct extraction of CO2 from ambient air using sorbents, commonly known as direct air carbon capture (DAC) is considered as a key climate change mitigation technology that has the potential to achieve negative carbon emissions. DAC technology is geographically unrestricted, meaning that capture facilities can be installed anywhere on inexpensive and low-class land. Preferably, DAC plant can be erected in vicinity of the geological storage site or at the doorsteps of a CO2 utilisation plant to minimise the long-distance of CO2 transportation cost and environmental impact. However, because of diluted CO2 concentration in the atmosphere (~400 ppm), the energy demand for DAC plants is excessively high. Sourcing this energy from the grid or any other fossil-based energy systems would notably undermine DAC's feasibility and sustainability. Instead, solar energy can be deployed to autonomise the DAC process to work off-grid. Solar PV panels can be used to run electrical equipment (e.g. pumps and blowers), and solar thermal collectors to provide the necessary heat to release the CO2 and restore the sorbent.
In countries like Australia with abundant land and solar resources, solar-powered DAC (SP-DAC) concept would certainly provide tangible benefits over existing grid-dependent technologies. However, the high capital investment of the solar field and thermal energy storage system will add to the already expensive carbon capture cost via DAC. Therefore, a novel process integration and intensification is vital to improve process efficiency and reduce the cost to a competitive advantage. This desktop/modelling project aims at decarbonising the energy input in direct air capture (DAC) technology by customising novel solar solutions to regenerate the sorbent directly in the solar field. Achieving this goal would autonomise DAC process to work off-grid at any location where cheap land and solar resources are abundant.
To be eligible to apply you must have (or expect to gain):
* International applicants must have the appropriate immigration approvals to allow them to take up the scholarship. The successful applicant must be residing in Australia in order to commence their PhD and take up the CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship by no later than 1 March 2023.
The successful applicant will be required to obtain and provide a National Police Check or equivalent.
To be considered you will need:
1. Submit a Resume/CV and a Cover Letter (as one document) in the ‘Resume/CV’ field which includes:
2. Upload your academic results in the ‘Cover Letter’ field;
3. In the ‘Job-Specific Information’ section, select ‘Not Applicable’ for both Preference 1 and Preference 2. You are not required to provide your Grade Point Average (GPA).