Evaluation of Stainless steels and Nickel alloys for ammonia service with TWI and DigitalMetal-CDT

About the Project

Start Date: January 2026

Applicants are invited to undertake a 4-year, enhanced stipend PhD studentship, within the Digital Metal CDT https://digitalmetal-cdt.ac.uk/ at the University of Leicester. This PhD programme is in partnership with TWI.

Project Details: Decarbonised ammonia represents a critical enabler in the global energy transition. It serves both as a versatile carbon-free fuel and as an efficient hydrogen carrier. Its increasing role in large-scale hydrogen transport has intensified the need to fully understand materials behaviour in ammonia environments. Historically, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in ammonia facilities was widely reported and actively investigated during the 1970s and 1980s. These early studies led to practical mitigation strategies, most notably, the controlled addition of water and restrictions on material strength. However, limited research has been conducted since then in this area. Fundamental uncertainties remain regarding the mechanisms of ammonia corrosion and SCC. Earlier investigations lacked standardised test methodologies and environmental control, resulting in fragmented mechanistic understanding and inconsistent susceptibility criteria. With the recent demand for larger ammonia storage and transport infrastructure, it is important to revisit and update our understanding of material behaviour in ammonia environments, particularly for alloys not traditionally deployed in these applications.

This PhD research aims to understand the corrosion and SCC behaviour of corrosion-resistant alloys (CRAs), such as stainless steels (316L) and Nickel alloys (625) in aqueous ammonia environments. The project will develop and apply advanced electrochemical techniques to quantitatively characterise corrosion kinetics and SCC susceptibility of stainless steels and nickel alloys. The influence of key metallurgical variables, environmental parameters, and applied stresses will be investigated to establish susceptibility criteria and mechanistic insight. High throughput experiments will be performed to generate data on the performance of materials. AI and ML tools will be used to analyse the data and develop models to correlate the performance to materials and microstructural variables. The outcomes of this work will contribute to the understanding of degradation mechanism in aqueous ammonia and support further development and deployment of ammonia transport and storage systems.

As a part of a CDT cohort, you will have access to tailored courses, mentoring, career support and conference opportunities.

Qualification: This position is only open to UK students. The candidate must have at least an equivalent of a UK BEng 2:1 degree in materials/mechanical/ manufacturing/chemistry or any related discipline. This project is based at Leicester University for Year 1 taught elements and at TWI for research project.

Project Supervisor: Dr Shiladitya Paul Director for UoL/TWI Materials Innovation Centre (MatIC)

For informal enquiries please contact Dr Shiladitya Paul, shiladitya.paul@leicester.ac.uk

How to Apply:

All applications must be submitted through the University of Leicester portal, regardless of the university where your PhD project will be based.

Apply Now: University of Leicester Application Portal

Funding Notes

The PhD studentship will cover:

(1) Tuition fees at UK (Home) rates

(2) A tax-free stipend of up to £25,780 per annum (3) £4,000 Research training support grant