A Finnish cleantech company Endev Ltd. is currently developing an innovative fluidized bed technology for environmentally friendly disposal of municipal and industrial sludges with simultaneous recovery of nutrients and energy.www.endev.fi

In relation to climate change mitigation, the attempts to restrain the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere have led to the development of new low-cost carbon capture technologies to be used in fossil-fuel-based power and heat generatuon. Among the proposed concepts, chemical looping combustion (CLC), which allows intrinsic separation of pure CO2 from a hydrocarbon fuel combustion process with a comparatively small energy penalty, has attracted significant attention. To date, the feasibility of the CLC concept has been proven in various laboratory and pilot units worldwide, but the full-scale realization of theoretical and small-scale units is still lacking due to many technical challenges.The most common CLC configuration consists of two interconnected fluidized bed reactors. Such fluidized beds are characterized by vigorous gas-solids mixing with strong coupling of chemical reactions and heat transfer. The main objective of this project is to improve and experimentally validate an existing one-dimensional dual fluidized bed model frame for chemical looping processes, to be utilized in dynamic analyses of industrial-scale applications and investigations of different process control strategies. This can be accomplished by creating further understanding on physical, process-specific phenomena related to multiphase fluid bed flow, reaction scheme and kinetics, and heat transfer, with the focus on dynamic behavior and scalability. Based on the knowledge gained, detailed sub-models that can reliably and accurately describe gas-particle contact and heterogeneous reactions, particle and gas residence times, and temperature distributions in fluidized bed chemical looping reactors will be developed and combined to form a comprehensive dynamic process model suitable to scientific and engineering purposes. Feasibility assessments of large-scale dual-loop systems will be performed by utilizing the acquired process model for design, off-design, and transient simulations.

- Analyzing and modelling complex energy conversion processes, focusing especially on sustainable systems with near-zero/negative greenhouse gas emissions.- Developing multiphysical models to investigate future carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.- Utilizing comprehensive simulation tools for the design, optimization, and scale-up of reliable, economical, and environmentally sound energy systems.

Various teaching and organizing duties related to heat transfer courses at the university.

Field of Study: Heat Transfer and Fluid MechanicsDoctoral Thesis: Analysis and modelling of chemical looping combustion process with and without oxygen uncoupling (Dec. 2014)Thesis D/L: http://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/102263Researcher in the Carbon Capture and Storage Program, financed by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) and coordinated by the Finnish Cluster for Energy and Environment (CLEEN Ltd.).