Chemical Process Engineer in Cheshire, Warrington

Chemical process engineer

Recircle is a UK-based industrial biotechnology company focused on sustainable solutions for the rubber materials sector. Recircle has developed technologies that combine biotechnology with polymer chemistry and industrial process engineering to allow waste rubber to be reprocessed into high quality molecules and materials for re-use. We're committed to building a world without waste. Our company culture is central to everything we do. We invest heavily in our people, personal development, and long-term career growth opportunities.

Recircle are looking for a motived, hands-on chemical process engineer with a strong process engineering background, preferably with experience in multi-phase reactor systems and their application in waste recycling. You should be comfortable working in a laboratory, eager to learn, and able to apply critical thinking to practical problems.

This is a mid-senior role that is ideal for a recent PhD graduate or and MEng/MSc with >3 years of practical R&D or industrial experience who want to apply their knowledge to enzymatic processes in a research and development environment.

The role will focus on developing a fundamental understanding of the interactions between reaction kinetics, mixing, solids handling, mass transfer, phase behaviour, aeration and reactor configuration, and translating this understanding into a robust, efficient and scalable process. You will work closely with experienced enzyme engineers and biochemists.

The successful candidate will apply chemical and reaction engineering principles to optimise complex reaction environments involving solid substrates and multiple process phases, and will play a key role in defining reactor configuration, operating conditions and scale-up strategy

Key responsibilities

• Develop a mechanistic understanding of the reaction system, identifying the relative importance of enzyme kinetics, enzyme stability, substrate accessibility, mass transfer, mixing and phase behaviour.
• Optimise reactor configuration and hydrodynamics, including vessel geometry, agitation strategy, impeller configuration, agitation rate and solids suspension, including in multi-vessel train configurations
• Develop strategies for handling solid rubber substrate, including particle wetting, suspension, floating, settling, agglomeration and contact between enzyme and substrate.
• Evaluate and optimise reaction media, considering substrate interactions, catalyst compatibility, phase behaviour, mass transfer, process safety and downstream processing.
• Investigate strategies to enhance transport and interaction between reaction components and phases, including the influence of interfacial phenomena on overall reaction performance.
• Optimise aeration and oxygen transfer, including gas flow, sparger configuration, agitation/aeration interactions and oxygen availability.
• Compile and analyse system performance data to inform downstream and scale-up engineering process design

Essential qualifications and experience

• MEng/MSc/PhD in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Reaction Engineering, Biochemical Engineering or a closely related discipline.
• Strong practical understanding of multiphase reaction systems, ideally involving gas, liquid and solid phases.
• Hands-on experience with stirred reactors and/or other reactor configurations at laboratory and preferably scale-up/process-development scale.
• Strong knowledge of mixing and agitation, including solids suspension, turbulence and mixing regimes, power input and reactor geometry.
• Strong understanding of mass-transfer phenomena, particularly solid–liquid, gas–liquid and liquid–liquid mass transfer.
• Experience handling solid substrates/slurries in liquid reaction systems, including floating, settling, agglomeration and wetting behaviour.
• Good understanding of organic solvents, including solvent selection, polarity, miscibility, partitioning, volatility and compatibility with process components.
• Experience with reaction optimisation.
• Ability to distinguish intrinsic reaction limitations from mass-transfer, mixing and other engineering limitations.
• Understanding of process safety associated with solvent recovery system and mild vacuum and pressure vessels.

Desirable experience

• Experience with enzymatic or biocatalytic reactions.
• Understanding of enzyme activity, stability and deactivation.
• Experience using enzymes in non-conventional media.
• Experience with phase-transfer catalysis or interfacial reactions.
• Experience with polymer, rubber or other insoluble/solid substrates.
• Experience with heterogeneous catalysis.
• Knowledge of oxygen transfer, kLa and gas dispersion.
• Scale-up of multiphase reactors.

Benefits

• Strong focus on innovation and a vibrant community of scientists from various educational and cultural backgrounds
• Private healthcare
• Enhanced Pension Scheme options after 12 months service
• 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays
• Cycle to work scheme

Remuneration

• A competitive market salary will be offered to the successful candidate