Stimulations / CFD Engineer

About NoPo

NoPo Nanotechnologies is India's only commercial manufacturer of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs), produced through our proprietary HiPCO (High Pressure Carbon Monoxide) process. We are a fast growing, technically driven organization working at the frontier of advanced materials manufacturing, with applications spanning energy, composites, and next generation industrial technologies.

Key Responsibilities

A. CFD Modelling and Simulation

• Develop and execute CFD models for tubular reactors, multi-tubular reactors, gas flow systems, and high-temperature process equipment used in SWCNT production.
  
• Simulate fluid flow, Reynolds number / turbulence, temperature distribution, heat transfer, pressure drop, and gas residence time under different operating conditions.
  
• Select appropriate turbulence models, discretization schemes, boundary conditions, and numerical solution methods based on the physics of the process.
  
• Conduct mesh generation, mesh independence studies, convergence assessment, and numerical sensitivity analysis.
  

B. Reactor Design and Thermal Analysis

• Analyse temperature uniformity, hot spots, cold zones, and thermal gradients within reactors and associated heating systems.
  
• Evaluate heat transfer between heating elements, reactor walls, and process gases.
  
• Investigate the impact of reactor geometry, tube arrangement, heating configuration, insulation, and operating conditions on thermal performance.
  

C. SWCNT Process and Reactor Optimization and troubleshooting

• Model gas flow and residence time for CO-based SWCNT production processes, including HiPco or other relevant processes, as applicable to the company's technology.
  
• Evaluate gas distribution, mixing, recirculation, flow maldistribution, and pressure drop across reactor assemblies.
  
• Support the modelling of gas-phase reactions, species transport, and reaction kinetics where suitable kinetic data are available.
  

• Assess the effect of operating parameters on process stability, gas utilization, thermal efficiency, and potential reactor fouling.
  
• Collaborate with experimental teams to develop modelling approaches for complex R&D problems.
  

D. Validation, Troubleshooting, and Continuous Improvement

• Validate CFD predictions against experimental measurements, pilot plant data, temperature profiles, pressure measurements, and flow data.
  
• Investigate deviations between simulated and actual reactor performance and recommend corrective actions.
  
• Conduct parametric studies, sensitivity analysis, and design-of-experiments-based simulation studies.
  
• Provide engineering recommendations to resolve flow maldistribution, overheating, inadequate heat transfer, and pressure-drop issues.
  
• Support root cause analysis of reactor performance and equipment-related problems.
  

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline.
  
• 3–5 years of hands-on experience in CFD modelling and simulation for industrial equipment, reactors, thermal systems, or chemical processes.
  
• Proficiency in at least one major CFD platform, such as ANSYS Fluent, ANSYS CFX, or OpenFOAM.
  
• Strong understanding of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and numerical methods.
  
• Practical experience with turbulence modelling, mesh generation, mesh quality assessment, convergence monitoring, and mesh independence studies.
  
• Working knowledge of energy equations, species transport, pressure-drop calculations, and residence-time analysis.
  
• Ability to define appropriate boundary conditions and material properties and critically assess simulation assumptions.
  
• Experience in interpreting CFD results and translating them into practical engineering recommendations.
  
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, technical documentation, and communication skills.
  

Preferred Skills

• Experience in CFD simulation of chemical reactors, tubular reactors, multi-tubular reactors, or high-temperature gas-phase processes.
  
• Exposure to carbon nanotube synthesis, CVD, HiPco, gas-phase nanomaterial synthesis, or related advanced-materials processes.
  
• Experience with conjugate heat transfer (CHT), radiation modelling, and high-temperature thermal systems.
  
• Understanding of reacting-flow models, finite-rate chemistry, species transport, and chemical kinetics.
  
• Exposure to particle tracking, aerosol dynamics, nucleation, deposition, or population balance modelling.
  
• Experience in modelling electrical heating systems, heated reactor assemblies, refractory insulation, and thermal losses.
  
• Knowledge of statistical analysis, design of experiments (DoE), and correlation of simulation results with experimental data.
  
• Experience supporting pilot-scale equipment design, process troubleshooting, and technology scale-up.