The Combustion Engineer will lead the design, testing, and optimization of biomass gasification reactors, ensuring safe and effective operations while collaborating across teams for system integration and performance improvement.
Arbor’s team of world-class engineers and scientists are developing a scalable, low-cost approach to Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) based on modern rocket engine technology. BECCS is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approach that uses biomass to produce energy and remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it permanently underground, while ensuring food security, rural livelihoods, and biodiversity are not affected. Our modular technology leverages the power density of supercritical CO2 to enable compact gasification, oxy-combustion, and high-pressure turbo-expansion to convert abundant waste biomass into clean electricity, water, and high-purity CO2, capturing and sequestering all emissions from the process. Our team brings together a passion for science, technology, and global stewardship to make low-cost, high-quality carbon removal and baseload power a reality.
We’re looking for a Combustion Engineer to take ownership of the development, testing, and optimization of our biomass gasification reactor as we scale from demonstration to pilot and beyond. As a core member of a small, hands-on combustion team, you’ll guide daily operations, execute performance testing, and lead design improvements to ensure safe, reliable, and high-performing systems.
Responsibilities
- Serve as technical lead for the biomass gasification reactor, owning design, build, operation, and iteration.
- Conduct and lead test campaigns, including planning, execution, and data analysis.
- Operate and troubleshoot the gasification reactor during daily testing and development.
- Guide system configuration and performance optimization efforts.
- Own and execute feedstock sensitivity studies to assess system flexibility and robustness.
- Drive continuous improvement through design changes and upgrades.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to support system integration and scale-up.
- Ensure safe operation of high-temperature, high-pressure thermochemical equipment.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical Engineering, or related field.
- 5+ years of experience in combustion system design, analysis, and testing.
- Strong understanding of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer.
- Hands-on experience with high-temperature and pressure equipment.
- Demonstrated ability to own product lifecycle from conceptual design to validation.
- Willing to travel (up to 20%) to the test site in San Bernardino, CA, for operational activities and builds.
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) with a focus on combustion science or energy systems.
- Experience with supercritical CO₂ or high-pressure combustion systems.
- Familiarity with low-emissions combustion strategies, such as lean premixed combustion or staged combustion.
- Knowledge of chemical kinetics and fuel property effects on combustion behavior.
- Proficiency in combustion modeling tools (e.g., CHEMKIN, Cantera, Fluent, or OpenFOAM).
- Programming or scripting skills for data reduction and automation (Python, MATLAB, etc.).
- Experience working in startup or experimental R&D environments.
Arbor is an equal-opportunity employer. We never discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, veteran, or disability status. Building a global solution to this global problem will require humans of all varieties to contribute diverse ideas and experiences, so we have put finding and hiring qualified individuals from underrepresented groups at the top of our priority list.
Top Skills
Cantera
Chemkin
Fluent
Matlab
Openfoam
Python
Arbor Energy Los Angeles, California, USA Office
Los Angeles, CA, United States
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