About this role
Werken bij TU/e Postdoc in MV Power Converters for Electrification of Heating in CCU Applications - Personeelstype: Wetenschappelijk personeel - Vakgebied: Postdoc - Organisatie: Department of Electrical Engineering - Solliciteer uiterlijk: 14-08-2026 - Voltijds equivalent: 1.0 FTE - Salaris: € 3.546 - € 5.538 Introduction Are you passionate about electrifying industrial heat? You will design medium-voltage converters as programmable heat sources, enabling large-scale, efficient electrification of heating in carbon capture and utilization processes. Job Description Electrifying industrial heat Industrial heat accounts for two-thirds of industrial energy demand and nearly one-fifth of global energy use. In the Netherlands, a third of all energy goes to thermal heating in the chemical industry - most of it still from fossil fuels, making it a major source of industrial CO₂. Electrifying these processes with green electricity is essential: an estimated 80-130 TWh of Dutch industrial demand must be electrified before 2050. In this position, you help make that transition possible. Your challenge You will develop the medium-voltage (MV) power-electronic converters that turn green electricity into efficient, high-power heat for Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) processes. Rather than treating the heater as a fixed load, you design the converter as a programmable heat source - one whose voltage level, output waveform, and frequency spectrum actively shape the thermal profile. Working at the interface of electrical and thermal engineering, you co-design the power stage and heating mechanism to reach extremely high efficiency at industrial scale. Your research centres on two challenges: - Topologies and control - You develop and compare MV converter topologies and control strategies delivering DC, high-frequency AC, and hybrid DC-with-AC-ripple outputs to drive resistive, inductive, and hybrid impedance heating, maximizing conver...