Recent studies of the German Department for Environment (Umweltbundesamt) show how greenhouse gas emissions from transportations can be reduced down to zero by 2050. In the opinion of the authors, the core element is the energy transformation in transportations: If possible, all cars should be equipped with electric engines and be fueled with renewable electric power. However, an electrification of the powertrain is impossi-ble for some vehicles. For a long time coming, vessels and aviation will rely on liquid hydrocarbons (fuels). Therefore greenhouse gas neutral fuels will be compulsory and necessary. Besides the conventional fuels (gasoline, kerosene and Diesel based on fossil oil) it is possible to produce so-called "renewable synthetic fuels of the second and third generation". These are up to 98% CO2 neutral. Biogas from wastes is the re-source for second generation fuels – third generation fuels are made of renewable electricity.
We – the INERATEC GmbH – are a start-up company from KIT and have the technology to produce those renewable synthetic fuels. We transform gases and electricity into fuels with our innovative chemical reactor technology. Our team (10-15 people) has won a number of public tenders (e.g. EXIST Forschungstransfer) and we are now growing to a small company located at the Rheinhafen and Campus North of the KIT in Karls-ruhe. Together with namely partners we are pioneering a new market. Now we are looking for a new team member that wants to do research on target costing in the scope of her or his Master thesis. In a nutshell the question is how expensive our chemical plant can be so that the fuels that come out of the plant can compete in the market. The thesis consists of three steps:
In the first step the current fuel price needs to be calculated based on internal data. The fuel price is a function of CAPEX and OPEX of our INERATEC plant. In the second step a target fuel price is given. From that a tar-get plant price can be defined. It is possible that the target plant price is below the current plant price. To achieve the required fuel price and in consequence to conquer the market, cost reduction potentials need to be identified in step 3.
We are looking for a Master student, that:
- wants to write her or his Master thesis on this topic
- brings a lot of intrinsic motivation
- has advanced technical understanding or is willing to develop it (Especially the calculation of the OPEX requires close interaction with our process engineers)
- has all necessary skills in doing research
- can work accurately on her/his own
- has advanced skills in Excel and PowerPoint
- fits to our team
Since we are a small start-up we are unfortunately not able to pay money for the thesis. However, we pay with great mentoring. Interested? Then please send us an application with your current grades, a CV and a short (~1/2 page) letter of motivation. We are looking forward to meeting you in person.
Start of the thesis: from now on until September/October 2016
Location: Either Camps North or Rheinhafen
Duration: 6 months
Any results of the thesis are strictly confidential. A publication of parts of the thesis can be discussed later.
