CLS · RESEARCH AREAS
Investigating how heat is stored, transferred and controlled across phase-change materials, battery thermal management and energy systems.
This research area focuses on thermal energy storage and thermal management of energy-storage devices. Energy must be stored and released at suitable times and temperatures. Local heating in batteries and electronics, waste heat from industrial and transport equipment, and load-dependent heat-source fluctuations each create different requirements. We study relationships among storage capacity, internal heat-transfer pathways and system response to balance temperature control, charging and discharging rates, and energy efficiency under specific operating conditions.
Our work includes a review of phase-change materials for vehicle battery thermal management, studies of fin materials and placement during melting, latent-heat storage in shell-and-tube units with thermal radiation, and performance analysis of annular thermoelectric generators for automotive exhaust. Recent work examines phase-change thermal buffering under fluctuating heat sources, including conditions where it may fail to reduce temperature oscillations. Together, these studies support material selection, storage design and matching dynamic thermal-management strategies to operating conditions.
We study the links among peak temperature, temperature uniformity and heat-removal pathways in traction batteries and high-heat-flux devices. Building on our phase-change thermal-management review, we explore material placement, contact heat transfer and load-dependent cooling needs to inform integration with liquid and air cooling.
We investigate coupled conduction, natural convection and thermal radiation during phase-change-material melting and in latent-heat storage units. Fin material, location and exchanger geometry are examined to balance storage capacity with charging and discharging rates across temperature ranges and thermal loads.
We study the timing of heat-source changes relative to phase-change response, including whether a storage unit can recover its heat-absorption capacity during continuous operation. Our work examines how phase-change temperature range, heat transfer and load variation define useful operating limits, rather than judging temperature-control performance from latent heat alone.
Building on annular automotive-exhaust thermoelectric-generator research, we analyze matching among heat sources, exchanger structures and thermoelectric modules, and the influence of structural parameters. Future transport and industrial applications will explore combining thermal buffering with energy conversion under changing operating conditions.
Future work will expand into composite phase-change materials and device-level thermal management, exploring nanofillers, porous conductive frameworks and interfacial heat transfer. Cyclic operation will be used to assess long-term material and structural performance. We will progressively investigate integration with liquid and air cooling, connecting material properties, module temperature distributions and system requirements through application-specific design and validation.
Examines conditions in which phase-change thermal buffering can be counterproductive, informing the matching of temperature fluctuations and material response.
Studies a finned shell-and-tube latent-heat storage unit with thermal radiation, supporting analysis of storage geometry and heat transfer.
Reviews phase-change enhancement strategies for automotive lithium-ion battery thermal management and their design requirements.
Examines how fin material affects melting in an enclosure, connecting material choice with heat-transfer enhancement.
Evaluates an annular thermoelectric generator for automotive exhaust, supporting waste-heat recovery and thermoelectric conversion.
