Heat Exchange Design Engineer

Cb•Palm Beach Gardens, FL

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Ampera is looking for a Heat Exchanger Design Engineer to design and develop large-scale heat exchangers for advanced supercritical CO₂ energy systems. The role will focus on MW-scale thermal hardware, including a primary heat exchanger operating with high-temperature sCO₂ streams, sCO₂ recuperators, and low-side water and air heat exchangers in the 8–20 MWth range. This position spans conceptual design, thermal-hydraulic analysis, mechanical design, vendor engagement, prototype fabrication, and test support.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or a related field
Experience designing heat exchangers, thermal systems, pressure equipment, or high-performance fluid hardware
Strong understanding of heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, pressure drop, and thermal-hydraulic design methods
Proficiency with engineering analysis tools such as MATLAB, Python, Excel-based design tools, CFD, FEA, or similar software
Experience with CAD tools such as SolidWorks, NX, Creo, or similar, and ability to create clear engineering drawings and specifications
Working knowledge of pressure equipment design, high-temperature materials, mechanical integrity, and design-for-manufacturing principles
Ability to support hardware builds, vendor reviews, testing, troubleshooting, and design iteration in a fast-moving development environment

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with supercritical CO₂ heat exchangers, recuperators, primary heat exchangers, compact heat exchangers, or air-cooled heat exchangers
Experience with high-temperature equipment, nickel alloys, stainless steels, diffusion bonding, brazing, welding, or advanced fabrication methods
Experience with additive manufacturing for thermal-fluid hardware, including design-for-additive-manufacturing, complex internal flow passages, manifolds, lattice structures, or prototype heat exchanger components
Knowledge of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, ASME pressure vessel and piping requirements, heat exchanger standards, code calculations, vendor data packages, and inspection requirements
Experience developing or validating heat exchanger models against test data, including uncertainty, instrumentation, and off-design performance evaluation
Previous work in nuclear, aerospace, power generation, high-temperature process equipment, concentrated solar power, or advanced energy systems

Responsibilities

Design MW-scale heat exchangers for supercritical CO₂ power systems, including primary heat exchangers, recuperators, water coolers, and air coolers
Develop thermal-hydraulic designs, sizing calculations, pressure-drop estimates, performance maps, and off-design operating assessments
Evaluate and develop heat exchanger architectures such as printed circuit heat exchangers, plate-fin units, shell-and-tube exchangers, finned-tube coils, and air-cooled heat exchangers
Perform mechanical design and analysis for high-temperature, high-pressure equipment, including pressure boundaries, thermal stresses, fatigue considerations, manifolding, headers, supports, and nozzle loads
Select materials, joining methods, and manufacturing approaches suitable for high-temperature and high-pressure sCO₂, water, and air service
Create design specifications, procurement packages, models, drawings, interface control documents, and verification plans for heat exchanger hardware
Work directly with suppliers and fabrication partners to review designs, resolve manufacturability issues, evaluate proposals, and support hardware release
Support prototype testing, performance validation, troubleshooting, inspection, and design iteration based on measured data