Thermal management describes the application of a variety of strategies to maintain a device within an allowable temperature range. Thermal management is a critical component of all electronics, electrical machines, buildings, and a variety of other high power systems.
Thermal management relies on mechanisms to effectively transport heat, to dissipate heat to the surroundings (generally by means of convection or radiation). If environmental conditions limit the ability to reject heat, we rely on endothermic transformations or rejections to assist the rejection of heat. To this end, we have investigated the use of phase change materials, desorption and dissociation materials, and porous conductive wicks to enhance transient heat rejection. We have demonstrated:
- Composite zeolite-desorption materials that exceed 1 MJ/kg energy densities.
- Strategies to enhance wicking of water in microporous aluminum foam evaporators.
- Dynamical anti-resonant behavior in PCM slabs.
Applications: Buildings, Electronics, Aviation/Automotive, Batteries
Projects:
- Transient Thermal Management for Electric Machines
- Thermal Energy Storage for Building Efficiency
- Design of Composite Phase Change Materials