Title:
Heat transfer and heat storage on the micro/nano-scale.

Speaker: Silvia Gaastra-Nedea (TU/e)
Time: Dec. 13, 2018, 10:00–11:00
Location: Differ, Alexander-zaal

The prediction and control of heat transfer and heat storage on micro/nano-scale became one of the major issues within many application fields. For instance, in miniaturizing electronic components, the trend is that the power consumption increases fast and local hot spots appear during operation of these devices. Micro-channel cooling has proven to be a compact and efficient way of transferring heat from a power source to a gas or a liquid. The continuum model for the flow starts to fail when the dimension of these channels is too small or when the gas becomes too dilute. Evaporation and catalytic surface activity have a crucial impact on heat control in micro/nano-channels and new models able to incorporate phase transition and surface phenomena are required. In order to predict accurately the heat transfer in micro and nanostructures, the cooling mechanism needs to be investigated on a molecular level. A breakthrough is possible by using a combination of Molecular Dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo (MC) methods.

Another important application in the energy field is heat storage in the built environment. Composite and doped materials based on salt hydrates are very good candidate materials to be used in seasonal heat storage. The crystalline structure and composition but also the surface defects and dislocations show a huge impact on the hydration/dehydration behaviour in these materials. A detailed study on molecular level of the involved processes is proposed in order to gain insight into the dynamics and the limiting factors. A breakthrough will be possible by using a combination of Quantum Mechanical, Molecular Dynamics and Grand Canonical Monte Carlo methods.

The CCER seminars are aimed at researchers interested in computational approaches to (energy) research. The seminar is small-scale, typically 15 participants, and interactive, offering lots of room for discussion. If you'd like to attend, just This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..