Design and Process Engineering
· Designing, construction, calculation, technology of manufacturing, technical preparation of manufacturing including assembly and testing,
· Thermal and nuclear power plant devices such as steam and combustion turbines, steam generators, steam power plants and heating plants including nuclear power stations, industrial power engineering and their environmental aspects,
· Water turbines, hydrodynamic and hydrostatic pumps, piping systems, hydroelectric power plants, and pumping stations,
· Machinary and devices for chemical industry, food-stuff industry, and biotechnological treatment lines,
· Construction, modelling and theoretical studies of machines and devices for cutting, forming machines, industrial robots, and manipulators,
· Machine parts and mechanisms, methodology of designing machine elements and working mechanisms of general application with consideration of stochastic qualities of inputs, including the application of special types of machines and devices,
· Cars, vans and lorries, buses, trailers, semi-trailers, and motorcycles,
· Combustion engines for all types of vehicle drives, simulation of combustion engine thermomechanical systems, dynamics of driving gear, engine accessories, ecology,
· Machines and devices for in-plant handling of material and handling between operations, for the mining and transport of building materials, for passenger conveyance in buildings,
· Aerodynamic calculation and designing, flight mechanics, fatigue and durability of aircraft constructions, aeroelasticity of aircraft,
· Quality of machine industry production.

prof. Ing. Václav Píštěk, DrSc.

1. Advanced logistics models in waste management

   The aim of this doctoral thesis is the development of mathematical models for waste management focused on logistics and planning and optimization of waste transportation systems under uncertain environment. Models will be developed based on the combination of theoretical math knowledge and industrial feedback. For such a class of problems, modern methods of solution will be used with great emphasis on proper software implementation and the use of available computational power. Developed models will serve as decision-making support tool in waste management and will take their place in real case studies and feasibility evaluation of industrial projects. Following issues will be tackled: • Introduction of waste management environment and its crucial factors • Understanding of related math knowledge for modeling • Design of mathematical model with real situation requirements included • Proper software implementation.

   Supervisor: Stehlík Petr, prof. Ing., CSc., dr. h. c.

2. Analysis of Causes of High Pressure Heat Exchangers Damage

   (i) Literature research in the area of design, manufacturing, maintenance and global lifetime management of high pressure heat exchangers. (ii) Assessment of methodology for design of high pressure heat exchangers, containing detail control analyses considering time – depending change of temperature during operational condition. (iii) Analysis of particular damage causes of high pressure heat exchangers. (iv) Suggestions on design, operation and controlled aging of high pressure heat exchangers.

   Supervisor: Vejvoda Stanislav, prof. Ing., CSc.

3. Experimental research of flow and heat transfer for petro-chemistry and energy sources

   The work will be focused on the collection of highly reliable and accurate data from laboratory experiments at a large-scale combustion facility for burners up to 2 MW. The work will include error analysis, statistical data analysis and data processing, designed to support advanced combustion simulations. Attention will be directed also towards the design and construction of experimental equipment and measurement techniques, precise process control and monitoring of operating conditions in experimental combustion research. The flow in modern burners with low NOx emissions has a complex structure with a significant tangential velocity component and its experimental analysis is highly important for the validation of numerical models. It is an area of key importance for the design of gas and liquid burners, fired heaters and combustion chambers in a range of industries, mainly in petro-chemistry and power production.

   Supervisor: Hájek Jiří, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

4. Increasing of effectiveness of specific heat transfer equipment for high temperature applications

   The work will be focused on modernization of structural design, verification of function, performance and operation of specific heat transfer equipment for high temperature applications (e.g. combustion chambers, furnaces, heat exchangers, etc.) in the process and power systems, where at least one heat transfer fluid in the equipment reaching high working temperature (above 250°C). The purpose is to perform complex analysis of structural design and performance of selected types of such heat transfer equipment with respect to increasing an effectiveness of their operation with the aid of present computation methods, facilities and tools. Included will be also discussion of the new structural and material aspects of analysed equipment and aspects of their operation, measurement and control, and formulation of observations, conclusions and recommendations for reliable mechanical design performance and operation of such equipment. The work will include in selected cases also confrontation of calculated values with results of operating measurement or experimental verification of analysed equipment.

   Supervisor: Jegla Zdeněk, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

5. Lifetime Evaluation of Storage Vessels

   (i) Literature research in the area of design, manufacturing, maintenance and lifetime management of storage vessels. (ii) Principals determination for design, operation, and repairs of several types of storage tanks. (iii) Analyses of the most common causes of damage to vessels and assessment of methods for vessels lifetime evaluation. (iv) Proposals for repairs of damaged tanks, process of repairs and determination of inspection plans for revision controls and verification in practice.

   Supervisor: Vejvoda Stanislav, prof. Ing., CSc.

6. Modeling and analysis of heat transfer equipment for high temperature applications

   The work will be focused on modelling and analysis of function and design performance of heat transfer equipment for high temperature applications (e.g. combustion chambers, furnaces, heat exchangers, etc.) in the process and power systems, where at least one heat transfer fluid in the equipment reaching high working temperature (above 250°C). The purpose is to perform analytical and complex multidimensional modelling of thermal and hydraulic processes of operating fluids in heat transfer equipment for specific selected applications with the aid of present computation models, methods, facilities and tools, and analysis of fluids behaviour influence to equipment design and structural performance. Included will be also discussion and formulation of observations, conclusions and recommendations for reliable thermal-hydraulic design and operation of such equipment. The work will include in selected cases also confrontation of calculated values with results of operating measurement or experimental verification of analysed equipment, especially focused on verification of heat duties, film heat transfer coefficients and fluids pressure drops.

   Supervisor: Jegla Zdeněk, prof. Ing., Ph.D.

7. Modern methods of modelling unsteady flows for petro-chemistry and energy sources

   In practice there are a number of instances, where flow is not only turbulent, but also contains large fluctuations, which posed significant difficulties for older turbulence models. The development of models for turbulent flows has however recently led to several promising directions, among which is especially prominent the so-called scale-adaptive simulation (SAS) due to its good practicability. Subject of the work will be the application of advanced turbulence models connected with adequate description of chemical reactions and heat transfer by radiation for the prediction of complex flows like for example swirling flow in industrial burners. Numerical simulations will be analyzed using data measured at a large-scale combustion facility. The objective of this work is to develop an up-to-date modelling methodology which will provide high quality predictions and at the same time will have acceptable computational costs in simulation of practical units.

   Supervisor: Hájek Jiří, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

8. Simulation of heat and mass transport in porous media

   Heat and mass transport in porous media is present in a range of practical processes – from lime burning, through catalytic reactors and grate combustion, to the drying of porous materials. Modelling of these processes is therefore a practical tool for the design and analysis of a number of widely used devices. In this work, the student will develop and implement a simulation tool for the modelling of processes and equipment, where heat and mass transport in porous media plays a key role. Existing computational methods will be further developed and adapted to concrete processes and equipment.

   Supervisor: Hájek Jiří, doc. Ing., Ph.D.

9. Waste transport modelling in selected region

   This doctoral thesis focuses on simulation of waste transport for energy recovery in selected region. Effective exploitation of existing and planning of new processing capacities is tightly bound with waste transport from producers to treatment sites. In-house developed tool NERUDA, which is based on a logistic optimization problem, is applied in a practical way. The thesis will tackle current challenge related to waste management. The following issues will be tackled: • Development of database for key parameters related to the task for region of Czech Republic and for selected foreign countries • Development of specific techno-economic models of whole logistic chain and scenario generation • Cooperation on the development and testing of mathematical models • Case studies.

   Supervisor: Stehlík Petr, prof. Ing., CSc., dr. h. c.