Mechanical and Process Engineering

With about 17,000 students, more than 300 professorships and around 160 degree programs, the University of Kaiserslautern- Landau (RPTU) is the technical university of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. As a place of top international research, it offers excellent working conditions and career opportunities. Those who study, research or work at RPTU experience a cosmopolitan environment and shape the future.

The Research Training Group GRK 2908 is financed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with funds from the federal and state governments.

Are you interested in the sustainable use of natural resources and would you like to research and develop new, efficient recycling methods as part of your scientific career? Then the Research Training Group WERA ,,Valuable Wastewater" at the RPTU University Kaiserslautern- Landau is a good place for you. The Institute of Particle Process Engineering of RPTU involved in WERA is looking for a postdoctoral researcher.

The WERA Research Training Group develops innovative processes for phosphorus recovery from wastewater (website: rptu.de/wera ). These include adsorption with newly synthesized adsorbents followed by desorption, as well as crystallization and precipitation of Magnesium Ammonium Phosphate (MAP). These processes are tested and optimized on a pilot-scale wastewater treatment plant using real wastewater.

As a postdoctoral researcher at WERA, you will address two central scientific challenges:

1. Research Focus

• Scale-up of processes: Transfer particle formulation and crystallization from lab to pilot scale. Large adsorbents with defined microstructures will be produced via agglomeration, and a pilot-scale crystallization/ precipitation reactor will be developed and studied experimentally and numerically.
• Particle stability analysis: Investigate mechanical stability of crystals and adsorbents under process conditions. Mechanical stress often causes abrasion and breakage, limiting particle lifetime. You will combine experiments and simulations (CFD-DEM, population balance modeling) to study breakage behavior, supported by mechanical testing and in-situ micro-computed tomography (µCT) of particles. These insights will guide optimization of agglomeration and crystallization processes to extend particle durability.

2. Scientific Coordination

As a link between the WERA research areas, you will coordinate operations at the wastewater treatment and recycling plant, aligning colleagues with diverse experimental needs and enabling joint research. This role provides insight into the scientific details of individual projects, while allowing you to contribute your expertise and broaden your scientific and engineering knowledge.

Benefits:

As a postdoctoral researcher at WERA, you will benefit from:

• Interdisciplinary collaboration with PhD candidates and professors across multiple disciplines.
• Structured training through summer schools, keynote lectures by leading international scientists, and specialized courses.
• International visibility of your research via conferences, research stays abroad, trade fairs, and publications.
• Career development in mechanical process engineering, resource recovery, and environmental technology.

Your requirements profile:

Applicants must hold a doctoral degree in process engineering or a closely related discipline. Experience in mechanical process engineering, wastewater treatment, particle measurement techniques, and DEM-CFD simulation is advantageous but not mandatory.