activity overview and future perspectives of small group

Activity overview and future perspectives of SMaLL group

Prof. Pietro Asinari, PhD

Department of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, ITALY

PI of multi-Scale ModeLing Laboratory – SMaLL (www.polito.it/small)

Editor of Heliyon (Elsevier, http://www.heliyon.com)

Project Technical Advisor (PTA) of the EC Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Unit D.3 — Advanced Materials and Nanotechnologies

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Overview: Funding, team, international collaborations

and our vision

Methods: Novel solvers, nanoparticles & nanofluids

and thermal percolating networks

Technologies: Advanced metering and heat transfer

enhancement by additive manufacturing

Societal impact: Solar energy, thermal energy storage

and clean water & desalination

Future perspectives

Outline

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Fund raising (2008-2016, nine years)

NOTE: PA has raised 2,79 M€ in funding during the last nine years (i.e. more

than 310 k€/y).

TIMELINE Role Project Type Cost [k€] 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

PI THERMAL-SKIN FIRB 954

PI NANO-BRIDGE PRIN 192

PI ENERGRID REG. 137

PI NANOSTEP/ERC(a) REG. 199

PI ENI S.p.A. NAT. 50

Co-PI MITOR REG. 27

Unit leader ARTEMIS FP7 352

Unit leader HT-PEM PRIN 23

Unit leader EMMC-CSA H2020 388

Group leader THERMONANO FP7 115

Group leader DRAPO' REG. 40

Group leader MODCOMP H2020 226

Group leader COMPOSELECTOR H2020 90

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http://www.polito.it/small

Current research assistants

Eliodoro Chiavazzo, PhD, Assistant

Professor (RTD-B)

Shahin Mohammadnejad, Grad. Assistant (IRAN)

Annalisa Cardellini, PhD Student (III)

Matteo Fasano, PhD, Post-doc

Matteo Morciano, PhD Student (I) Davide Lizzi, Grad. Assistant 4

(Part of) current international network

Prof. E. Wang, MIT

Prof. L.-S. Luo, ODU

Prof. S. Garimella, PURDUE

Prof. D. Megaridis, UIC

USA

Prof. D. Blankschtein, MIT

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(Part of) current international network

Prof. D. Poulikakos, ETH

Prof. M. Krafczyk, BRAUNSCHWEIG

Prof. F. Bresme, IMPERIAL

Prof. F. Kuznik, INSA-LYON

EUROPE

Prof. N. Marzari, EPFL

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(Part of) current international network

NOTE: PA was nominated Research Associate by the

Graduate School of Engineering of Kyoto

University (2006, 09, 12).

Prof. Z. Guo, HUST

Prof. T. Ohwada, KYOTO

FAR EAST

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Former research assistants are now in...

F. Di Rienzo, PhD ROLLS-ROYCE

S. Izquierdo, PhD ITA-INNOVA

L. Bergamasco, PhD UPMC - Paris 6

F. Robotti, ETH

A. S. Tascini, IMPERIAL

M. R. Vaziri Sereshk, UC Merced

F. Cola, NANYANG (NTU)

A. Bevilacqua, IMPERIAL

U. Salomov, PhD, RECTOR of Andijan Machine Building Institute (Uzbekistan)

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Our vision

Proof-of-concept (POC)

Energy materials

Modelling, methods and simulations: Novel models; Faster solvers; Smaller memory demand; High performance computing (HPC)

Heat & mass transfer enhancement / Metering

Societal impact

Technologies

Methods

Clean water & Desalination

Thermal energy storage

Solar energy

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Methods

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Nanoparticles

α Al2O3

Magnetite

A. Cardellini, M. Fasano, M. Bozorg Bigdeli, E. Chiavazzo and Asinari, P., Thermal transport phenomena in nanoparticle suspensions, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 28, 2016

Nanofluids for heat transfer !

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Understanding nanofluids: Nano

• Thermal conductivity and

viscosity of nanofluids depend

on three main effects:

1. (Nano) Interfacial thermal

resistance (coating);

2. (Meso) Solvent nano-layer

effect, i.e. thin layer of water

which is adsorbed on the

nanoparticle surface;

3. (Macro) Brownian motion of

the nanoparticles, requiring

a mesoscopic description of

the solvent micro-dynamics

(e.g. by LBM or Link-wise).

TH = 1.15

TC=0.95

Nano-particle

Temperature jump = Interfacial thermal

resistance

Biot >> 1

Heat flux

Base fluid

Radius N

orm

aliz

ed

te

mp

era

ture

Tascini A.S., Armstrong J., Chiavazzo E., Fasano M., Asinari, P. and Bresme F.,

Thermal transport across nanoparticle-fluid interfaces, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, submitted 2016 12

Meso: Thickness of the water nano-layer

BEST RESULT #1: [BEST1] Chiavazzo, E., Fasano, M., Asinari, P., Decuzzi, P., NATURE Communications, 5, 4565, 2014

The atomistic description of the surface is used

to predict the water nano-layer thickness and its

energetic properties (validated experimentally

and independently by ORNL in USA, 2015).

Novel dimensionless quantity !

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Energy released by the water nano-layer

BEST RESULT #1: [BEST1] Chiavazzo, E., Fasano, M., Asinari, P., Decuzzi, P., NATURE Communications, 5, 4565, 2014

The method allows an a-priori

estimate of the heat of adsorption,

which is useful to discriminate

hundreds of adsorption materials. Heat of sorption/desorption

0

100

200

300

Water PCM Zeolite

Thermal energy density

[kWh/m3]

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Macro: Choose the right solver!

• More than 10,000 papers in

roughly 25 years (1,000

papers only in 2015); 10

books; Commercial software.

NOTE: PA joined the International Scientific Committee of the International Conference for

Mesoscopic Methods in Engineering and Science (ICMMES) in 2012 (on-going).

• Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is

considered a powerful solver for the

simulation of complex energy flows

(e.g. particle dynamics) and large

domains (e.g. environmental flows).

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• Ohwada & Asinari [BEST3, 2010] recognized that the LBM for

incompressible Navier-Stokes equations is nothing more than a very

efficient discretization of the Artificial Compressibility Method (ACM).

• Later, Asinari et al. [R19] proposed an alternative novel method, called

Link-wise ACM, mimicking the efficient LBM discretization, but using

only macroscopic variables.

Revamping ACM: Link-wise ACM !

BEST RESULT #3: [BEST3] Ohwada, T., Asinari, P., JCP, 229 (5), 2010; [R19] Asinari, P., Ohwada, T., Chiavazzo, E., Di Rienzo, A.F., JCP 231 (15), 2012

• This novel approach (a) is over twice as fast as

LBM and (b) requires only one fifth of the memory

(GTX Titan GPU card). Hence it is extremely

promising on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) for

super-computing on the desktop !!!

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(1) Fuel cells

BEST RESULT #2: [BEST2] Asinari, P. et al., JPS, 170 (2), 2007; [R13] Salomov U.R. et al., Comput. & Math. with Appl. 67, 2014; Salomov U.R. et al., Int. J. of Hydrogen Energy 40, 2015.

• Huge computational power is extremely

useful to characterize also fuel cell

electrodes. Better performance can be

achieved by reducing the tortuosity of

electrodes, which can be computed by

pore-scale simulations [BEST2, R13].

• Pioneering work [BEST2] has been

recently extended to design better

catalyst distribution inside the

catalyst layer and hence to mitigate

degradation phenomena [R13].

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SOFC

HT-PEM

(2) Electric desalination

• A mesoscopic model of electrolytes has

been developed based on an extended

thermodynamic approach [Asinari, P., PRE

80 (5), 2009; Asinari, P., PRE 77(5), 2008;

Zudrop, J. et al., PRE 89 (5), 2014; Zudrop,

J. et al., Comput. & Fluids, submitted].

• This model has been implemented in a

massively parallel (efficient up to 100,000

cores), octree-based, software framework

called APES (RWTH Aachen University).

• The code is used in the design of the

Electrodialysis & Electrodeionization Unit

by Siemens Water Technologies. 18

(3) Thermally conductive composites

• Heat transfer in complex heterogeneous

systems is also crucial in designing

composites materials with enhanced

thermal conductivity.

• Here there are two challenges:

1. To minimize the interfacial

thermal resistance among filler

particles (Fasano et al., Renew.

Sust. Energ. Rev. 41, 2015);

2. To optimize the thermal

percolation network (Chiavazzo

E., Asinari P., Int. J. Therm. Sci.

49, 2010).

HOT Thermostat

COLD Thermostat 19

(4) Aeraulic simulations at urban scale

• Link-wise ACM is considered one of the most

promising tools for thermal aeraulic

simulations for buildings at urban scale. The

Energy and Thermal Sciences Center (CETHIL)

of INSA Lyon has already implemented link-

wise ACM in their multi-GPU code (Obrecht

et al., JCP 275, 2014; Obrecht et al.,

COMPUT. MATH. APPL. 72:2, 2016).

Courtesy of IRMB

• Beyond Academia, Link-wise ACM is currently

used by commercial software houses,

namely Next Limit Technologies (Spain) and

FluiDyna GmbH (Germany).

Courtesy of CETHIL

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DNS

LES

Technologies

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www.thermalskin.org

Convective heat transfer sensor

1 cm

This flush-mounted novel sensor allows

measuring small convective heat fluxes

(< 0.2 W/cm2) with very small average

deviations < 6%. 22

Advanced heat sinks

Manufacturing technology Samples

Traditional machining (including by electrical discharge)

Additive manufacturing (AM), in collaboration with IIT

Laser etching, in collaboration with Microla S.r.l.

Direct carbon nanotubes growth, in collaboration with Carbon Group

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MAX ENHANCEMENT based on fitting: 70,2 %

www.thermalskin.org

Ventola et al., Int. J. of

Heat and Mass Transfer

75, pp. 58–74, 2014.

AM: Artificial roughness

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Reference

Roughness only

Roughness + Smart design

Fluid stagnation (i.e. TBL thickness increase) !!!

AM: Pitot-based heat sink

25 M. Fasano, L. Ventola, F. Calignano, D. Manfredi, E. Ambrosio, E. Chiavazzo, P. Asinari,

Passive heat transfer enhancement..., Int. Comm. Heat and Mass Transfer 74, 2016

MAX ENHANCEMENT 35,0 %

Societal impact

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Desalination by reverse osmosis

• Zeolite-based materials are used for

desalination by reverse osmosis.

• A thermodynamic model has been

used to rationalize the molecular

dynamics simulations for infiltration

and to predict the role of defects.

Clean water & Desalination

+

27 Courtesy of Prof. Evelyn Wang (MIT)

M. Fasano, T. Humplik, A. Bevilacqua, M. Tsapatsis, E. Chiavazzo, E.N. Wang, P. Asinari, Interplay between hydrophilicity and surface barriers on water transport in zeolite membranes, NATURE Communications, 7, 12762, 2016.

The role of surface barriers

From Molecular Dynamics

From Experiments

Proposed correction

Clean water & Desalination

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Multi Effect Distillation

Exhaust heat recovery

Clean water & Desalination 29

Rooftop solar potential

• The rooftop solar potential of the Piedmont

Region was estimated as 69 TWh/year

[Asinari P. & Bergamasco L., Solar Energy 85,

p. 1041-1055 & p. 2741-2756, 2011].

• This may lead to 6.9 TWhe/year, equal to

electric energy produced (in same Region) by

all renewable sources in 2009 (GSE).

30 Solar energy

Solar-based water treatment

In-field

Lab scale: Titanium Dioxide Coated Hollow Glass Microspheres

Solar energy 31

Thin-film solar cell

3 IT and 2 international

patent applications (EURO-PCT)

Much cheaper device, but

same efficiency as

MIT’s

Solar energy

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Future perspectives

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Summing up: Industrial challenges

Molecular

(Nano) Particle/grain

(Meso) Thermal-fluid

(Macro)

Energy materials

Nanoparticles, nanointerfaces

Nanofluids, Composite materials

Porous electrodes for fuel cells

Metering Thermal guard

(1) Thermal sensor

Heat transfer enhancement

Boundary layer

(2) Pitot-based heat sink

Thermal energy storage

Zeolite-based battery

(3) Thermal battery on cars

Solar energy Solar water treatment

(4) Thin-film solar cell

Clean water & Desalination

Membranes for desalination

Electro- dialysis for desalination

Thermal insulation

(5) Multi-effect distillation (MED)

Modelling, METHODS and simulations

Proof-of-concept (POC)

CHALLENGES 34

Understanding societal feedbacks

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(1) Democratization for Every3

Clean water & Desalination

Thermal energy storage

Solar energy

Everyone: Technology must address basic needs which hold for everyone on Earth, e.g. water. Today, 780 million people lack access to an improved

water source; approximately one in nine people [WHO & UNICEF, 2012].

Every time: The variability of solar energy poses some challenges in

terms of thermal storage, in particular for demanding tasks as

water purification.

Everywhere: The majority of developing countries fall within the most favorable regions for

solar radiation, in contrast to the conventional sources.

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(2) Personal (flexible) manufacturing

In the long-term future, objects will be built when and where are needed, e.g. Fab@Home is a platform of printers and programs which can produce functional 3D objects on desktop and is supported by a global, open-source community.

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(Educational platform)

Solar steam generation

Stratasys Elite 3D printer + support removal

Roland MDX-540 4-axis desktop CNC mill

Workline WL6146 Laser cutter

Multiple effect distillator

Newport 94041A Sun Simulator\

Biocompatible solar nanofluids Energy Fab Lab

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On-going activities New facilities (31/12/2016)

3D-printing for heat storage

The impact on teaching and learning …

2016, October 10th, @POLITO

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Short, medium and long term goals

• Long-term plan (10 years): Setting-up a

laboratory (Energy Fab Lab) for designing

flexible energy-related devices by democratic

manufacturing, addressing basic needs and with

the potential to impact on one billion people.

• Medium-term plan (6 years): Moving developed

technologies for heat and mass transfer

enhancement towards effective commercial

exploitation by industry.

• Short-term plan (3 years): Defining an effective

and feasible multi-scale protocol for predictive

design of nano-interfaces for thermal systems.

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Funding & manpower

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• Funding: A risk mitigation strategy is required:

– Low-risk industrial contracts (ENI, SMAT, DENSO) on thermal

systems (avoiding scattered consultancy);

– Medium-risk H2020 calls, in particular about energy systems

modelling (EMMC-CSA, MODCOMP, COMPOSELECTOR);

– High-risk/high-gain ERC calls, e.g. ERC Consolidator Grant

(already passed Step 1 in 2015, but still working on…).

• Manpower:

– Developing the democratic manufacturing would require

another permanent research assistant (RTD-A) in the group;

– It is important to offer a qualified exit strategy to brilliant

PhD students, e.g. by a spin-off.

Thank you for your attention !

http://www.polito.it/small

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Additional slides

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Zeolite-based automotive thermal storage

• Thermal storage is required on modern cars

for thermal comfort and outside windshield

defrosting during start-up.

• A novel zeolite-based prototype of thermo-

adsorptive storage has been developed for

Denso Thermal Systems S.p.A. (revenues in

2006 were 750 M€ with 3,500 employees).

To engine cooling/heating system

Engine exhaust

Zeolite

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Thermal energy storage

Nanofluids for solar collectors

• Carbon nanohorn-based nanofluids are considered promising as

black fluids for direct-absorption solar collectors [Moradi A. et al.,

J. of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology 15, 2015].

• The thermal performance in polymer collectors are currently under

investigation: Advantages in terms of flexible manufacturing and design.

By Lengmartin (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via

Wikimedia Commons Solar energy 45

Not only ambition: Material vs. Device

Solar steam with thermal efficiency up to 85% at only 10 kW/m2 [Ghasemi H. at al., Nature Comm., 5:4449, Jul 2014]. “A novel carbon-based material gives solar steam power a boost” [The Economist].

85%, July 2014

80% first tested release

Almost same performance

by a democratic device

instead! Three patents

already submitted. 46

Desalination by reverse osmosis

• Zeolite-based materials are used for

desalination by reverse osmosis.

• A thermodynamic model has been

used to rationalize the molecular

dynamics simulations for infiltration

and to predict the role of defects. Clean water & Desalination

47

Other academic and professional duties

• Member of the Steering Committee of

the U.I.T. (Unione Italiana di

Termofluidodinamica) under the

President Prof. Alfonso Niro

• Member of the Executive Board of the

the Alta Scuola Politecnica (ASP), which

was funded in 2004 by Politecnico di

Milano and Politecnico di Torino,

restricted to 150 young and exceptionally

talented students.

48

• Member of the Operational Management Board (OMB) of the European

Materials Modelling Council (EMMC).

Maps for Rational Design of Engineered Nanofluids for Solar thermal Energy (DENSE)

by Dr. Pietro ASINARI, Politecnico di Torino, ITALY

- Principal Investigator of the Multi-Scale Modelling Laboratory – SMaLL (www.polito.it/small)

- Management Board member of the European Materials Modelling Council (http://emmc.info)

- 66 articles on peer-reviewed international journals (37 as senior author), 3 patent applications, 982 citations, 19 h-index (Google)

- 1,8 M€ in funding during the last 7 years (i.e. more than 0.26 M€/y)

PhD in Computational

Engineering

Renewable Energy

Mechanical Engineer

Clean Water Center @ PoliTO

• The Clean Water Center @PoliTo addresses technological and societal challenges related to water treatment and supply. Its main goal is the development of water treatment systems that are scalable for use by industry and the public sector at medium-large scale. The center gathers equipment and know-how to exploit alternative water and energy sources. Main proponents: Proff. Alberto Tiraferri, Pietro Asinari and Davide Luca Janner.

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Applicazioni Energetiche dei Materiali

• Il corso si propone di trasmettere una cultura ingegneristica sui materiali recenti più avanzati (nano-ingegnerizzati) per applicazioni energetiche, con particolare enfasi sulle correlazioni esistenti tra struttura, microstruttura e prestazione degli stessi.

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