Characterisation of dissolved hydrogen diffusion and bubble nucleation in waste suspensions

As the UK prepares to invest in new nuclear power plants, industry and research organisations are also looking towards developing the next generation of effluent and waste treatment processes. Overcoming challenges to the decommissioning of legacy nuclear facilities is critical to building confidence in the long-term future of nuclear as a low-carbon energy source in the UK. On sites, such as Sellafield in the UK, there is a significant risk of hydrogen building up above flammable limits, owing to its production in various wastes from corrosion or radiolysis. Understanding the dynamic balance between dissolved hydrogen in liquid phases and gaseous hydrogen is critical to predicting hydrogen transport and release, allowing safe management of the hydrogen risk. For this PhD, you will work alongside some of the UK’s leading nuclear researchers at Leeds, as part of the Nuclear Engineering Group, and industry experts at Sellafield Ltd, to develop a comprehensive understanding of the influence of various environmental factors on the solubility of dissolved hydrogen in waste sludges. It will also seek to understand the dynamics of bubble nucleation under partial vacuum as a method of controlling hydrogen release. Additionally, we will use both experimental and computer fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to study hydrogen diffusion within these wastes, to enable prediction of transportation and release dynamics in complex waste siloes.