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PhD Position – Machine learning to increase geothermal energy efficiency, Karlsruhe Institute

PhD Position – Machine learning to increase geothermal energy efficiency, Karlsruhe Institute KIT Campus Sued, Karlsruhe, Germany (source: KIT)
Carlo Cariaga 19 Aug 2022

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany has an open PhD position for a project that will use machine learning to model scaling formation in cascade geothermal operations.

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany currently has an open PhD position in the upcoming Machine Learning for Enhancing Geothermal energy production (MALEG) project. Interested applicants may visit the official KIT page for more details on the application. Submissions will be accepted only until September 30, 2022.

The target of the MALEG project is the design and optimization of cascade production schemes aiming for the highest possible energy output in geothermal energy facilities by preventing scaling. The enhanced scaling potential of lower return temperatures is one key challenge as geothermal cascade use becomes a more common strategy to increase efficiency.

The research will be focusing on the development of a machine learning tool to quantify the impact of the enhanced cooling on the fluid-mineral equilibrium and to optimize the operations economically. The tool will be based on results from widely-applied deterministic models and experimental data collected at geothermal plants in Germany, Austria and Turkey by our international project partners. Once fully implemented the MALEG-tool will work as a digital twin of the power plant, ready to assess and predict scaling formation processes for geothermal production from different geological settings.

The ideal candidate should hold a master’s degree in geosciences or geophysics with sound interest in aqueous geochemistry and experience in numerical modeling.

Source: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology