MAE Candidate Seminar – Toward Carbon-Neutral Energy Generation and Storage via Multiphase Thermal-Fluids and

Details

Toward Carbon-Neutral Energy Generation and Storage via Multiphase Thermal-Fluids and Materials Innovations

Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at 12:50 pm
Location: In-Person MAE-A, Room 303

Youngsup Song, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Abstract
As roughly 90% of greenhouse gas emissions involve heat transfer processes, breakthroughs in thermal-fluid sciences will play a pivotal role in mitigating climate change. In particular, combining low-carbon power generation and scalable energy storage technologies will enable deep decarbonization of our energy usage. Considering most current power generation is related to the steam cycle, enhancing boiling heat transfer is critical for efficient power generation. As we move toward renewables, we also need scalable and affordable energy storage technologies such as thermal energy storage (TES) to completely replace fossil fuels. My research covers strategies to tackle enhanced boiling and TES challenges through multiphase thermal fluids and materials innovations. In the first part of this seminar, I will discuss a mechanistic understanding and enhancement of pool boiling heat transfer via surface property and structure design of a boiling surface. In particular, I will introduce three-tier hierarchical structures designed for extreme boiling performance. The second part of this seminar will focus on a supercooling phenomenon of phase change materials (PCMs) for TES. The degree of supercooling, i.e., a freezing temperature, changes with almost every material and system parameter due to the inherent coupling of nucleation with heat transfer. To address this phenomenon for optimized industry-scale TES systems, we have developed an accurate framework to predict the degree of supercooling, with experimental validations, by stochastic modeling of nucleation coupled with heat transfer. These fundamental understanding and enhancement of multiphase thermal fluids and TES can ultimately lead to deep decarbonization of our energy systems and other sustainability applications.

Biography
Dr. Youngsup Song is a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, conducting research on thermal energy storage with Dr. Ravi Prasher. He obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, advised by Dr. Evelyn Wang, where he investigated multiphase heat transfer.

MAE Faculty Host: Jonathan Scheffe