Chemical Engineer (New York City Metropolitan Area)

Company Description Aircela develops clean gasoline using only air, water, and renewable electricity, offering a practical path to carbon-neutral fuels. The company’s machines capture CO₂ directly from the air and convert it into drop-in fuel compatible with existing engines, roads, and infrastructure without modification. Aircela’s solutions are designed to be compact and scalable, aligning with current global energy systems while reducing reliance on oil. The team is composed of engineers, scientists, and builders committed to advancing sustainable fuel technologies. Joining Aircela means contributing to an innovative, mission-driven environment focused on real-world climate impact.

Chemical Engineer – Alkylation & Downstream Fuels

The role

We're hiring a Chemical Engineer to work alongside our alkylation lead on alkylate fuel synthesis and support the wider downstream effort. Your core focus will be helping develop, scale, and optimize our alkylation process to produce high-octane, low-aromatic gasoline components.

We're looking for someone with solid chemical engineering fundamentals and real hands-on lab experience who wants to learn alkylation and fuels in depth. You'll learn and grow your skills on real equipment, from bench scale to pilot unit.

Because we're a startup, the job doesn't stop at alkylation. Over time, you'll also work across the broader downstream train (conversion, separations, product upgrading, and fuel quality) wherever the team needs you. This role suits someone who likes going deep on one process while staying hands-on across many.

This is a hands-on role. Most of your time will be spent in the lab and at the pilot unit: building and modifying setups, running experiments, collecting data, and troubleshooting equipment. Practical skills and a willingness to learn matter more to us than credentials.

What you'll do

Alkylate fuel synthesis (core focus)

• Run bench-scale alkylation experiments and help carry results through pilot testing and integration into the Aircela machine.
• Help evaluate catalysts (solid acid, ionic liquid, or other alternatives to conventional HF/H₂SO₄ routes) for safety, selectivity, and lifetime in a compact unit.
• Optimize reaction conditions such as temperature, pressure, isoparaffin-to-olefin ratio, and residence time to maximize octane and yield.
• Help study catalyst deactivation and test regeneration strategies suited to distributed, low-maintenance operation.
• Build mass and energy balances and simple process models that support design decisions and scale-up.

Broader downstream work (as you grow into the role)

• Support the methanol-to-olefins and methanol-to-gasoline steps that feed the alkylation unit.
• Help design and troubleshoot separations such as distillation, flash, and phase separation.
• Help confirm the finished fuel meets gasoline specifications (octane, RVP, distillation curve).
• Run analytical methods such as GC and GC-MS, or coordinate with outside labs.
• Contribute to P&IDs, equipment sizing, hazard reviews (HAZOP, What-If), and safe operating procedures.
• Work closely with the capture, electrolysis, mechanical, and controls teams so the whole machine runs as one system.

What you'll need

• B.S. or M.S. in Chemical Engineering or a closely related field. Recent graduates are welcome.
• Curiosity, a willingness to learn quickly, and comfort switching tasks on a small team.
• A solid grounding in reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, and separations.
• Real hands-on lab or pilot-plant experience, whether from research, internships, co-ops, or industry.
• Careful, safety-first habits and comfort working with equipment, tubing, fittings, and instruments.
• Basic data analysis skills in Excel, MATLAB, or similar.
• Clear communication and the ability to work with people from other disciplines.

What you'll learn here

• Alkylation and acid-catalyzed hydrocarbon chemistry, working directly with our alkylation lead.
• Catalyst evaluation, deactivation, and regeneration.
• Safe handling of flammable gases and liquids under high pressure, and pilot unit operation.
• Analytical methods (GC, GC-MS, octane testing) and gasoline specifications.
• Process simulation (Aspen Plus/HYSYS), P&IDs, and process safety reviews.
• How a compact, modular fuel system is designed and built end to end.

Nice to have

• Any exposure to alkylation, oligomerization, MTO/MTG, Fischer–Tropsch, or catalysis research.
• Experience with Aspen Plus/HYSYS or another process simulator.
• Experience with GC or other analytical instruments.
• Prior startup or early-stage R&D experience.