Novel Unsteady Conjugate Cooling Mechanism
Lead Research Organisation:
Cranfield University
Department Name: School of Water, Energy and Environment
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Abdulrahem H
(2020)
Inductance Calculation and Torque Separation of a Unique Multi-Layer Spoke-type Interior Permanent Magnet Motor using the Frozen Permeability Method
in IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Abdulrahem H
(2020)
Thermal Analysis and Temperature Distribution of Two-Layer and Spoke-Type Ferrite Interior Permanent Magnet Machine
in IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Biczyski M
(2020)
Multirotor Sizing Methodology with Flight Time Estimation
in Journal of Advanced Transportation
Ding X
(2020)
A Novel Active Equalization Topology for Series-Connected Lithium-ion Battery Packs
in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications
Ding X
(2021)
A High-Precision and High-Efficiency PMSM Driver Based on Power Amplifiers and RTSPSs
in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
Liang W
(2021)
Analytical Study of Stator Tooth Modulation on Electromagnetic Radial Force in Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines
in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
Luk P
(2020)
Low-cost high-performance ferrite permanent magnet machines in EV applications: A comprehensive review
in eTransportation
Rogall M
(2020)
DREMUS: A Data-Restricted Multi-Physics Simulation Model for Lithium-Ion Battery Storage
in Journal of Energy Storage
| Description | Conventional active cooling involves steady flow of a coolant to 'snake' through the body of the object to achieve desirable thermal exchange between the coolant and the object. Increasing the flow will result in higher thermal exchange. Our preliminary study shows this steady coolant flow is intrinsically inefficient with the coolant inlet area being overcooled and/or coolant outlet area overheated. We have developed a bio-inspired cooling with pulsating (unsteady) flow of coolant, reminiscent of the human blood circulation system to improve cooling/heating efficiency and thermal distribution. Substantial modelling and comprehensive empirical work have been completed, and we have validated the benefits of pulsatile flow over steady flow, as we can control both the amplitude and frequency of flow to optimise the thermal exchange efficiency. This is in contract to the conventional approach where the only control is the flow rate. The key findings highlight the potentials of a bio-inspired approach over a conventional mechanistic approach. |
| Exploitation Route | The outcomes of the bio-inspired cooling concept will have impacts in several aspects. For the research community, the bio-inspired approach will provide researchers incentives to explore and observe the fundamental mechanisms of the nature and living organisms, and learn how we can create new technological solutions to our problems by applying these mechanisms in an effective manner. For more immediate applications, the technology demonstrator developed in this project has already attracted some battery manufacturers. They want to explore the develop the cooling system into their battery cells. Moreover, there are medical applications too, such as in drug delivery and therapy. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Energy,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Transport |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ0PGl6h8NY |
| Description | The findings from this project have been publicised through website, journals, international conferences, and dedicated forums within researchers, and the findings have been used to support industrial applications and the collaborations have led to further secured funding. These are summarised below. 1. A technology demonstrator has been developed within Cranfield's E-PAD lab for training of researchers and for visitors who are interested to get involved with further development of the technology. 2. The demonstrator has attracted substantial interest from several industry partners who visited our laboratory, including Delta Cosworth (a leading racing vehicle company), CDO2 (a battery manufacturer), Blue Dolphin Ltd UK (an SME in cylindrical cells) and Energy Research Lab Ltd (a SME moved to Cranfield University's Science Park for collaboration with us). 3. An formal agreement has been in place to allow Cranfield's students and learners to use facilities in Energy Research Lab, and for the company's employees work with Cranfield's researchers to develop the technology in their energy products. 4. Further fund is now secured from the EPSRC IAA programme with CDO2 to integrate our concept to their battery products. This is a direct result from the findings of the research, as the company is providing their battery module on loan to us for development. 5. A dedicated video has now been uploaded to YouTube for publicity to audience worldwide. It provides us a platform to interact with viewers in a global context. 6.The findings have also led to on-going discussions with research teams from overseas, in particular with the Hong Kong University team led by Prof Christopher Y.H. Chao, to explore collaborations in bio-inspired cooling in housing. A visit has been made by the PI to the laboratory during March 2023. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Construction,Education,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
| Description | EPSRC Impact Acceleration Funding (IAA) |
| Amount | £37,746 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2023 |
| End | 11/2023 |
| Description | CSA Catapult |
| Organisation | Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We provide the CSA Catapult our MSc students to undertake research in their group project on a topic of interest to them. |
| Collaborator Contribution | CSA Catapult provide our students an industry dimension to the group project, involving in the supervision of the 3-month project throughout and attending of the monthly meetings. |
| Impact | The group project is multi-disciplinary, in involving the development of a bio-inspired battery cooling prototype. It is still in the literature review stage. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Thermal managment for batteries |
| Organisation | CDO2 Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We collaborate with this partner in an EPSRC IAA project to develop and prototype a thermal management system for their battery pack. We contribute our expertise, staff time, the bio-inspired cooling concept, and facilities to the project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The contribution from the partner includes: 1. Saff time for project meetings and assessing industrial relevance of commercialisation 2. Battery pack loan for assessment |
| Impact | 1. EPSRC IAA funding for prototyping the systme utilising the cooling mechanism 2. Recruitment of a researcher working on prototyping of the system |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | A seminar introducing the project based on finite element method for Msc students |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Around 50 postgraduate students attended the seminar. The students showed a great interest on the project and the simulation method based on FEM. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Active engagements with a new company founded at our science park |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | We have actively engaged with a company called Energy Research Lab Ltd newly founded at Cranfield University's Science Park. The company's CEO and CTO visited our research facilities and had talks with us about collaborative work in future. We presented our initial research findings and they were very impressed and offered positions for the PI and CoI to work at the company. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| URL | https://energyresearchlab.com/ |
| Description | Engagement with potential technology users and industrial collaborators |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | That activity was mainly focused on conversations with potential technology users and industrial collaborators who might be interested to use the outcome of this project later. The intelligent cooling systems, which is going to be developed during this project, can be used in various applications. For example, we had conversations with some battery module manufacturers to see how can we implement the outcomes of this project into their battery cooling systems. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Invitation accepted to join a MDPI webinar discussion on the "Advanced application of eddy current sensors, devices and systems" on April, 2023. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Due to the on-going health and economic situation across the globe, and the associated uncertainties regarding health and safety, transportation, catering, and access issues, MDPI offers a webinars which allows scientists from all over the word to present and discuss the latest research about eddy current sensors applications. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Invitation to join a IEEE webinar discussion on the "The Texas Electric Power Crisis - What Happened?" on Friday, February 19, 2021. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The webinar drawn a group of experts and stakeholders, to discuss and shed light on the cold spell that hit the the electric grid system in the United States, in particular Texas in February 2021. It wreaked havoc with the electric power generation and delivery system there, putting large numbers of customers under rolling blackouts and long periods of power outages. The focus has been especially glaring and harsh for electric power grid in Texas. In the webinar, the group of electric utility experts analyze the situation and provide their unique perspectives. I also was invited to join in discussion. The intent was to delve into the realities of the situation as well as discuss how the Smart Grid could have been helpful to mitigate the dire effects. The discussion covered wider implications, such as the use of electric vehicles (EV) and how unprepared current battery systems are under the these extreme temperature. This is closely related to this project's novel heating/cooling methods of EV batteries. I made this known to the esteemed panel. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://resourcecenter.smartgrid.ieee.org/education/webinar-slides/SGSLW0153.html |
| Description | Keynote speech at CoEEPE 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This was an invited keynote speech for the 2022nd International Conference on Energy, Power and Electrical Engineering (CoEEPE 2022) held during December 19- 21, 2022 in Hefei, China. The conference was co-hosted by the Chinese Society of Electrotechnology and the International Association of Electrical, Electronic and Energy (IAEEEE), and co-organized by Anhui University. The conference focused on the new theories and applications of energy, power and electrical engineering, and provided a broad exchange platform for experts and scholars in energy, power and electrical engineering and related research fields to exchange the latest research results and discuss the direction of academic development. There were 4 keynote speeches delivered by international experts. My keynote titled "the electrification of transportation" was scheduled on December 20, and was attended by over 100 attendants. It was very well received, and the host was impressed with the standard of presentations by the experts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://www.casqiem.ac.cn/document.action?docid=91278 |