Thesis Work – CFD of spray-steam condensation, spray-wall interaction and heat transfer

About the Thesis Work

The Fluid Dynamics team within the Energy Transfer & Environment (YRLE) department at Vattenfall Research and Development is a multidisciplinary group that covers all aspects of fluid flow relevant to Vattenfall’s operations — from river hydraulics to offshore wind power and nuclear energy.

Subject/Assignment: 

Heat transfer in multiphase-phase flow involves complex physics. Depending on the industrial process, the phases can be any combination of liquids, gases, and solids at different concentrations. The phases can either be separated, sharing a single interface, or several phases may be dispersed into one-phase resulting in many interfaces. In many industrial processes there is one continuous phase and one or several dispersed phases. This is the case for the spray cooling of steam in the pressurizer in pressurized nuclear reactors (PWR), see figs.

Within the AdTherm competence centre (AdTherM – Advanced computing for sustainable thermal management in industry) work package 3 is concerned with multiphase flows and particularly steam condensation through spray cooling and subsequent spray-wall interaction and heat transfer. In order to understand the limitations of current state-of-the-art computational models a set of simulations with different flow, turbulence, spray, drop, and thermodynamic models should be performed using OpenFOAM and evaluated using tailored experiments made in the Älvkarleby laboratory. Participation in some experimental work is also possible and encouraged.

Goal/Purpose:

Understand the current state-of-the-art for computational models multiphase flows including droplets, steam condensation and spray-wall interaction and heat transfer

Your Profile

We are looking for a student or students who want to work towards fossil freedom and who are about to graduate from their academic studies. You are also someone who identifies with our principles: Active, Open, Positive, and Safety.

The thesis is designed for one student and 30 credit points (approx. 6 months).

• Education: Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Physics or equivalent
• Scope: Master degree (30 credits)
• Language proficiency: English

• Start date: January/February 2026 or by agreement
• Location: University (local), Älvkarleby, Solna
• Application – one file containing your CV and a copy of your transcripts
• Application deadline: 2025-10-26
• Contact person and supervisor at Vattenfall:

Eric Lillberg, eric.lillberg@vattenfall.com, +46 (0)70 5372994

Diversity and Inclusion – In Everything We Do

We are convinced that heterogeneous teams can outperform homogeneous ones. But we can only unlock the power of diversity when everyone feels included. Read more about our important work on diversity and inclusion at https://careers.vattenfall.com/se/sv/jobba-med-oss/mangfald-inkludering.

About Vattenfall

At Vattenfall, we are determined to enable fossil freedom. To succeed, we must first become fully fossil-free ourselves as one of Europe’s largest energy companies. But that is not enough. To contribute to a fossil-free society, we need to do more than just focus on sustainable energy production.

We believe that enabling fossil freedom requires us to address the challenge from a broader perspective than merely producing energy sustainably.

Join us on the journey towards fossil freedom.

As Vattenfall is part of Sweden’s critical infrastructure, many of our roles are security-classified. This means that, if this position is security-classified, final candidates may be subject to a special security clearance in accordance with the Security Protection Act.

To enable the fossil freedom that drives society forward – this is our purpose. We are looking for talented students who want to help us on our journey towards fossil freedom. By writing a thesis at Vattenfall, you will have a unique opportunity to contribute to our purpose.