Dr Simon Kuhn

Simon Kuhn received his Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University Munich in 2004, and his PhD from the Institute of Process Engineering at ETH Zurich in 2008 (awarded with the ETH silver medal). From 2008-2010, he worked as scientist at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland, and from 2010-2012 he was appointed as post-doctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. Simon joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at UCL as a lecturer in October 2012.

Simon’s research interests relate to the interplay of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, with special focus on transport processes in complex chemical process systems, such as mixers, separation units, micro- and milli-reactors etc. The complexity in those systems can either come from the involved geometry (e.g. fluid-structure interaction), and/or by the involved transport processes (e.g. turbulent flows or multiphase flows). Obtaining such and understanding and control of the transport properties in these systems is the key element for the rational design of intensified processes in the chemical and biotechnological industries, e.g. the ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable has identified the demand for novel concepts for continuous reaction systems.

The aim of the research is to investigate interfacial transport processes and the scale-up of the involved transport coefficients in more detail. This is accomplished by identifying the physical mechanisms of heat and mass transfer on the micro- and milli-scale using non-invasive, laser-optical measurement techniques (PIV/LIF), and to use these experimental results to develop predictive multiphase flow models for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). These developed models will subsequently allow the design of optimized multiphase flow reactors across several orders of length scales. This step will also involve the application of novel manufacturing techniques, e.g. selective laser-sintering (SLS), to enable the production of these devices.

The obtained results will bridge the gap between the micro- and milli-scale, and will directly impact the efforts in process intensification and sustainable advanced manufacturing.

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Cohort 1 (18 months)