Projects / Programmes
Fuctionalised fluids for advanced energy systems
January 1, 2022
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 2.03.00 |
Engineering sciences and technologies |
Energy engineering |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 2.03 |
Engineering and Technology |
Mechanical engineering |
Fluids, Cavitation, Boiling, Microfluidics, Water treatment, Elastocalorics, Microrheology, Thermal diode, Thermal switch
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 24, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
Data for ARIS tenders (
04.04.2019 – Programme tender,
archive
)
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
171 |
6,200 |
5,405 |
31.61 |
| Scopus |
189 |
7,160 |
6,252 |
33.08 |
Researchers (11)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
56845 |
Žan Boček |
Mechanics |
Junior researcher |
2022 - 2024 |
7 |
| 2. |
23471 |
PhD Matevž Dular |
Energy engineering |
Head |
2022 - 2024 |
461 |
| 3. |
53513 |
Gregor Kozmus |
Mechanics |
Junior researcher |
2022 - 2024 |
9 |
| 4. |
56010 |
Jernej Ortar |
Process engineering |
Junior researcher |
2023 - 2024 |
13 |
| 5. |
53231 |
PhD Žiga Pandur |
Process engineering |
Researcher |
2022 - 2024 |
32 |
| 6. |
58368 |
Renata Piščanec |
|
Technical associate |
2023 - 2024 |
0 |
| 7. |
38316 |
PhD Biljana Stojković |
Materials science and technology |
Researcher |
2022 |
24 |
| 8. |
34418 |
PhD Urban Tomc |
Process engineering |
Researcher |
2022 - 2024 |
93 |
| 9. |
29624 |
PhD Jaka Tušek |
Process engineering |
Researcher |
2022 - 2024 |
153 |
| 10. |
52620 |
PhD Jure Zevnik |
Process engineering |
Researcher |
2023 - 2024 |
35 |
| 11. |
33926 |
PhD Mojca Zupanc |
Process engineering |
Researcher |
2022 - 2024 |
78 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
We have reached a stage of development that has outgrown our planet's capabilities and forces us to overexploit it. Various actions have been taken at the global level (e.g., 17 goals for sustainable development for all by the United Nations, Paris climate agreement, European Green Deal). They are related to development of environmentally friendly technologies, potentials to provide future cleaner transport, decarbonisation and finally, increasing the energy efficiency of devices and energy conversion processes. The goals can only be fulfilled using innovative technologies that outperform the existing ones. The main role should be played by innovations in the energy sector, as they directly tackle these challenges by delivering ever-increasing energy efficiency of devices and energy conversion processes through the utilization of renewable, waste, and surplus energy sources (this is a part of the goal of sustainable development, presented by UN and is in line with the EU energy efficiency target for 2030). However, new solutions, that seek these goals are often pushed towards operation in unstable conditions. One niche is optimization of fluids, which are an essential and indispensable, but many times neglected, building block of every energy system. Fundamental knowledge of the behaviour of fluids is therefore crucial to ensure safe and continuous operation. The potential solution is seen in advanced and non-conventional fluids exposed to the extreme conditions and/or different external fields. On the other hand, the specific properties that fluids exhibit under specific conditions can lead to new or to optimization of existing technology that ensures a long-term and environmentally friendly energy supply. Existing technologies have a limited reach - a long-term research at the most basic level is essential. Within the Research programme, top researchers (two winners of ERC projects) in the fields of energy and environment, complemented by the group of experts in the field of heat transfer and microfluidics, will undertake research into the properties and applications of functional fluids that could be a key building block of new technologies in energy applications. The Research programme group will work in several areas, with the common goal of integrated treatment of fluids for advanced applications in energy engineering. We will focus on the study of fluids, which are rarely or superficially considered in energy engineering but show a high potential for use in the future. We will explore specific phenomena and research the possibilities of their advanced manipulation. Research into the properties of liquids will play a key role in this. The proposed research and expected results will contribute to the development of science and technology in energy engineering, specifically: i) "zero energy - zero waste" treatment of water and sludge, ii) innovative solutions in refrigeration, and iii) innovative approaches for heat/energy control.
Significance for science
New solutions in energy research are often pushed towards operation in unstable conditions. The research programme addresses a niche of fluids optimization. Fundamental knowledge of the behaviour of fluids is crucial to ensure safe and continuous operation of novel and advanced energy systems. The proposed research program addresses specific fluids and selected fluid phenomena, together with innovative manipulation techniques, which will serve as a foundation for use in future energy systems. While we are aware of some of the physical mechanisms, which are known to accompany cavitation remarkably little is known about which or a combination of which mechanisms is important for a specific consequence of cavitation. By giving emphasis on the research of the basic mechanisms it will be possible to build up the research to a more realistic scale where more complex phenomena are present. The work aims to provide a breakthrough in the understanding of cavitation physics. Specifically, we will significantly improve the resolution of experiments on all size scales. Boiling is one of the most widely used mechanisms for efficient heat transfer, however some of the underlying phenomena especially at the micro- and nano-scale are still not fully understood. The aim of the work is to provide a platform for studying small-scale physical phenomena occurring during boiling of advanced fluids (self-rewetting fluids, nanofluids, multi-component mixtures). The in-depth knowledge in this field will enable engineering application specific and optimized working fluids, which is the next crucial step for heat transfer improvement. The control and manipulation of miniature volumes of liquids has proven essential for future miniaturization of devices in different fields of applications, especially in thermal management and energy harvesting. Within the programme we will focus on providing fundamental understandings on droplet fluid dynamics influenced by different external mechanisms (e.g., magnetic or electric field) to establish basis for future development of complex multi-droplet microfluidic devices. Continuous microfluidics offers an exact manipulation and control of small volumes, such as transport, mixing and separation However, apart from continuous (macro)fluidics, new fluid flow properties emerge on a submilimeter scale, such as liquid metastabilities, capillary effects or extremely low-Reynolds flow streams. First, we will establish clear understanding of different flow phenomena on a micro-scale level. We will then proceed to engineer new approaches to exploit these microfluidic phenomena, especially in energy applications, such as thermal control, energy harvesting and water treatment. Although ultrasonic waves are already used in a variety of applications, the effects of ultrasound on a complex fluid are still poorly understood. We will investigate in detail the interactions of high-power ultrasonic waves with multiphase fluids under extreme temperature and pressure conditions. This will lead to the implementation of ultrasonic technology in the field of thermal control, material processing and water treatment. By exact control of magnetic/electric field intensity, one can establish either one of the essential microfluidic manipulation mechanisms (moving, merging, splitting, jumping). Within the programme we will focus on fundamental understanding of these four mechanisms. This will lay grounds for further implementation into vast possibilities of applications, such as cooling of microelectronics, caloric cooling and energy harvesting technologies or even microfluidic integrated circuits and computer chips. As fluidic devices get smaller, more accurate flow manipulation techniques are required. A laser is able to precisely regulate the energy output of the beam, focused on an extremely small area. However, little is known about the consequences of focused light on mixtures and complex fluids containing a variety of additives, dissolved and undissolved gasses or particles. We will provide insight into the mechanisms of fluid-light interactions and their specific consequences, which will play a major role in fluid tailoring in the future. Modern processes require the use of highly specific fluids that perform several demanding tasks along their flow paths. Since the characteristics of the fluid remain constant, its properties cannot be optimized for a specific task. This can be achieved by manipulating the fluid locally, either by adding or removing gasses or by injecting stabilized nano- and microbubbles. We will investigate in detail the effects of gasses and microbubbles on complex fluid matrices and their flow dynamics under extreme conditions. This will reveal new possibilities for local fluid manipulation and enable a step forward in the design of functional fluids. The results of the Research programme will not be limited to the Energy research but will, due to the importance of the fluids in various fields, echo across research in other fields of engineering, chemistry, biology, medicine and elsewhere.
Significance for the country
Besides fundamental research, the proposed programme is linked to development of innovative solutions and products in the specific field of sustainable energy management - the most pending topics of the society. Existing technologies have a limited reach - a long-term research at the most basic level is essential. Within the Research programme, top researchers (two winners of ERC projects) in the fields of energy and environment, complemented by the group of experts in the field of heat transfer and microfluidics, will undertake research into the properties and applications of functional fluids that could be a key building block of new technologies in energy applications. Our well established and active role in research and development for the Slovenian industry will path progress in indispensable segment of technological development in Slovenia toward sustainable energy use. Group members are active in fast transfer of basic research into the industrial environment. In the last 5 years they (co)authored no less than 9 patents. The research programme will contribute to the development of technology in energy engineering, specifically: i) innovative solutions in refrigeration, ii) "zero energy - zero waste" treatment of water and sludge and iii) innovative approaches for energy flow manipulation. Being one of the leading teams in the world, we see a clear possibility that within the decade the elastocaloric technology could take a significant share of a global refrigeration and air-conditioning market, which valued for more than 100 billion euros in 2018. Investigations of fundamental principles governing mechanical and chemical effects of cavitation will enable future breakthroughs in the development and optimization of technologies and innovations that exploit cavitating flow. Our work in the past years was already noted by several larger national companies, such as Kolektor and Petrol. Research programme will produce novel solutions in thermal control devices and discover new operation principles and materials for improvement of the thermal switch/diode parameters. The expected impact is related directly to the innovations and improvement of current or development of new, more energy efficient thermal management methods in versatile systems and devices. On the social side, the programme group is also active in the field of human resources development. Members teach at the department of Mechanical Engineering and also at the department for Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Currently the group is fostering 6 PhD students, who will, according to our experience, mostly enter the business sector upon graduation. The research programme addresses basic scientific questions which resound in development of novel technologies in the energy and environmental sector. Obviously, both are of an exceptional importance for the wellbeing of the humanity and as such for the development of social and cultural development (in Slovenia, Europe and wider). Finally, the scientific results of the research programme will also serve as an important leverage for shifting the paradigms of general population in environmental protection and sustainable energy use - the members of the research programme are well aware of this mission and are well experienced in communicating it.
