Overview

The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation's biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation's power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system; and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.

The Energy Processes and Materials Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, creates and delivers real world solutions that support the Department of Energy's goals for national energy security. We deliver new technologies that connect fundamental science to applications in areas such as energy storage, advanced materials manufacturing, applied catalysis, advanced separations, biomass conversions, carbon capture and utilization, and hydrogen production and storage. We employ a systems perspective that includes discovery, technology development, and scale-up as well as economic, regulatory, and market acceptance issues necessary for successful technology commercialization.

Responsibilities

Designs, develops, and operates processes or unit operations to create a diverse range of products. Evaluates and manipulates the chemical properties of various substances used in the fabrication of new products. Designs, models evaluates, and implements chemical processes, instrumentation, and equipment to ensure effectiveness in engineering and design. Performs trials, tests, and/or experiments to support engineering, production, and/or R&D activities. Applies the principles of chemistry, nuclear science, biology, physics, material science, math, and engineering to solve problems that involve the production, use or conversion of chemicals, materials, and energy. Uses the principles of biology and the tools of engineering to mimic biological systems to create products or to modify and control biological systems so that they can replace, augment, sustain, or control chemical and mechanical processes.

The Chemical and Biological Processing Group is seeking an experienced researcher with expertise in slurry processing, rheology, particle transport, multiphase flow, and flow assurance. The successful candidate will conduct and lead applied research addressing the reliable processing of concentrated, heterogeneous, solids-containing, and non-Newtonian materials in continuous-flow systems.

This position will combine experimental investigation, engineering analysis, and modeling to improve feed handling, pumping, mixing, heat transfer, solids transport, fouling mitigation, and process operability. The successful candidate will work independently on technically challenging problems while collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to translate fundamental understanding of slurry behavior into practical process and equipment solutions.

The successful candidate will:

• Lead technical tasks and research activities focused on slurry processing, rheology, particle-laden flow, fouling, deposition, plugging, and flow assurance in continuous-flow systems.
• Design, operate, modify, and troubleshoot experimental systems incorporating pumps, mixers, piping, heat exchangers, valves, instrumentation, and other continuous-flow equipment.
• Plan and execute experiments to investigate slurry transport, particle settling and suspension, pressure drop, mixing, heat transfer, fouling, deposition, erosion, and equipment operability.
• Apply fluid mechanics, rheology, transport phenomena, and engineering analysis to interpret system behavior and identify reliable operating windows.
• Develop and apply mechanistic models, engineering correlations, computational models, or CFD approaches to support process understanding, equipment design, and scale-up.
• Integrate rheological measurements, material characterization, experimental observations, and process data to understand relationships among feed properties, flow behavior, fouling, and equipment performance.
• Identify regions or operating conditions associated with poor mixing, low velocities, particle accumulation, recirculation, deposition, erosion, plugging, or other process limitations.
• Develop and evaluate mitigation strategies involving feed conditioning, pumping and mixing approaches, equipment geometry, operating conditions, materials selection, and cleaning or flushing strategies.
• Translate experimental and modeling results into recommendations for process operation, equipment modification, system design, and scale-up from laboratory to pilot-scale systems.
• Provide technical direction to junior researchers, postdoctoral researchers, technicians, and interns on defined research activities.
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers across fluid mechanics, chemical processing, materials handling, heat transfer, process control, modeling, and equipment design.
• Communicate research results through sponsor deliverables, technical reports, presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and technical meetings.
• Contribute to proposal development, project planning, sponsor interactions, and the development of new research opportunities.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• BS/BA and 5+ years of relevant work experience -OR-
• MS/MA and 3+ years of relevant work experience -OR-
• PhD with 1+ year of relevant experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, mining engineering, mineral processing, food engineering, fluid mechanics, rheology, or a closely related field; or an MS/BS degree with commensurate specialized experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following: slurry processing, rheology, particle-laden flow, multiphase flow, solids transport, fouling, deposition, plugging, or flow assurance.
• Substantial hands-on experience designing, operating, modifying, or troubleshooting continuous-flow or recirculating systems that process solids-containing, concentrated, heterogeneous, viscous, or non-Newtonian materials.
• Experience with slurry pumping, pipeline or piping transport, solids suspension, particle settling, mixing, heat transfer, or flow through complex process equipment.
• Experience investigating and mitigating fouling, deposition, agglomeration, plugging, erosion, wear, or related process-reliability challenges.
• Experience measuring and interpreting rheological properties and connecting those measurements to flow behavior, equipment performance, or process-design decisions.
• Experience developing or applying mechanistic models, engineering correlations, CFD, or other computational approaches to slurry transport, multiphase flow, mixing, heat transfer, or fouling.
• Familiarity with CFD tools such as ANSYS Fluent, OpenFOAM, COMSOL Multiphysics, STAR-CCM+, or comparable platforms is desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to independently formulate technical approaches, design experiments, analyze results, troubleshoot complex systems, and draw actionable engineering conclusions.
• Experience translating laboratory-scale results to pilot-scale equipment or supporting process scale-up and equipment-design decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical tasks and coordinate the work of other researchers or technical staff.
• Strong technical writing and communication skills, with a record of publications, presentations, sponsor deliverables, patents, or proposal contributions.
• Experience working with federal sponsors, industry partners, universities, or national laboratory collaborations is desirable.
• Direct experience with continuous-flow slurry systems is strongly preferred; experience primarily limited to batch processing does not fully meet the needs of this position.

Hazardous Working Conditions/Environment

Not applicable.

Testing Designated Position

This is not a Testing Designated Position (TDP).

Rockstar Rewards

Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, robust telehealth care options, several mental health benefits, free wellness coaching, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance*, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare, legal benefits, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support. Employees are automatically enrolled in our company-funded pension plan* and may enroll in our 401 (k) savings plan with company match*. Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.

* Research Associates excluded.

**All benefits are dependent upon eligibility.

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Notice to Applicants

PNNL lists the full pay range for the position in the job posting. Starting pay is calculated from the minimum of the pay range and actual placement in the range is determi