Thermal and Energy Science

Research in thermal and energy science mainly includes phonon transport in meta-materials, optical absorption/chemical reaction/thermal transport in laser-based processing, thermal transport in clathrate hydrate, phonon-phonon and phonon-electron interactions in metals and semiconductors, two-phase and phase change in porous media, nuclear waste storage and transportation safety, as well as advanced thermal transport technologies.

The temperature contour from a large-scale CFD simulation of facilities used to store large numbers of radiological materials packages.  The radiological materials within these packages generate heat, but the temperature of certain package components must not exceed specified limits. The computational models include the facility ventilation system and package heat generation and airflow within the facility. These models will be used to predict the margin of safety between the package component temperatures and their allowed limits, for a range of ventilation temperatures and flow rates.

Associated faculty

Miles Greiner

Mustafa Hadj-Nacer

Yan Wang