Thermal Fluid and Energy Systems
The Thermal Fluid and Energy Systems (TFES) research division addresses a wide array of cutting-edge topics that rely on thermodynamics, heat transport, fluid mechanics, and chemical and phase change phenomena in engineered systems. Students, faculty, and research staff implement advanced experimental diagnostics and numerical simulation tools to solve problems related to energy storage, conversion and utilization; environmental impacts and safety; sustainable transportation and fuels; water purification and processing; and thermochemical and material process applications. Research projects involve collaborations with partners in other disciplines, national labs, and sponsoring companies, and projects range in scope from experimental characterization and modeling of processes on the molecular scale to testing and technoeconomic of commercial-scale energy systems.
Research Faculty
Denis Aslangil
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Physics and theory of compressible turbulent flows
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Turbulent mixing and hydrodynamic instabilities under extreme conditions
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Fluid-solid-shock interactions
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High-fidelity computational fluid dynamics
Robert Braun
Contact
Research Group: Advanced Energy Systems
- High-temperature fuel cells (solid oxide and protonic ceramics)
- Electrolyzers for hydrogen and synthetic fuel production
- Reversible fuel cell systems for energy storage
- Advanced power cycles, including supercritical CO2 Brayton cycles
- Thermal and thermochemical energy storage
- Concentrating solar power
- Director: Advanced Energy Systems interdisciplinary graduate program
Steven DeCaluwe
Contact
Research Group: CORES (Colorado Reacting Flows, Electrochemistry and Surface Science)
- Simultaneous consideration of reacting flows, electrochemistry, and surface science to understand and improve clean energy and clean water devices
- Combination of operando measurements and numerical simulations to understand:
- The influence of conductive polymer microstructure and distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells
- Degradation in Li-ion batteries via growth and evolution of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI)
- The impact of novel chemistries in advanced “beyond Li-ion” batteries, including lithium-sulfur, lithium-O2, and silicon anodes
- Degradation due to mineral scaling in water desalination systems
Veronica Eliasson
Contact
Research Group: Shock and Impact Lab
- Director, Mines Explosives Research Lab
- Experimental mechanics
- Shock and blast wave dynamics
- Fracture mechanics
- Medium to high strain rate impacts
- Ultra-high-speed visualization techniques
Greg Jackson
Contact
Research Group: Jackson Research Group
- High-temperature thermal and thermochemical energy storage
- Solid oxide electrochemical cells, materials and systems
- High-temperature catalysis
- Reactive flow modeling for heterogeneous processes
Robert Kee
- Modeling and simulation of thermal and chemically reacting fluid flow with applications to combustion, electochemistry and materials manufacturing
- Clean energy, including fuel cells, photovoltaics and advanced combustion
- Catalytic-combustion and water-mist flame suppression
- Design, optimization and control of chemical-vapor-deposition processes with applications ranging from thin-film photovoltaics to CMOS semiconductor devices
AASHUTOSH MISTRY
Contact
Research Group: Mistry Group
- Nonequilibrium material behavior to engineer systems for energy generation, storage, and conversion.
- Relevant nonequilibrium interactions are reactions
- Species transport
- Charge transfer
- Phase change
- Fluid flow
- Heat exchange
Rajavasanth Rajasegar
Contact
Research Group:
- low greenhouse gas (GHG) fuels for in-cylinder combustion
Neal Sullivan
Contact
Research Group: Colorado Fuel Cell Center
- Experimental characterization of ceramic electrochemical devices
- Solid-oxide fuel cells for efficient electricity generation
- Electrolyzers for hydrogen production and energy storage
- Electro-catalysis for fuels synthesis
- Scale up of next-generation materials for solid-oxide fuel cells
- Integrated kW-scale fuel-cell systems
Paulo Cesar Tabares-Velasco
Contact
Research Group: Advanced Multiscale Building Energy Research (AMBER)
- Building and campus level energy simulation and optimization
- Thermal energy storage
- Green roofs
- Heat transfer applied to buildings
- Integrating buildings with the smart grid
Nils Tilton
Contact
Research Group: Computational Fluid Dynamics Group
- Theoretical and computational fluid mechanics with an emphasis on hydrodynamic stability and flow through porous media
- Analytical and numerical models of membrane filtration, carbon dioxide sequestration and flow control for drag reduction
- Numerical modeling using spectral, fractional step and multi-domain methods
- Analytical modeling using perturbation methods and volume-averaged models of flow through porous media
Research Centers and Groups
- Advanced Energy Systems
- Advanced Multiscale Building Energy Research (AMBER) Group
- Colorado Fuel Cell Center
- Computational Fluid Dynamics Group
- Colorado Reacting Flows, Electrochemistry and Surface Science (CORES)
- Jackson Research Group
- Kee Research Group
- Mines Optical Diagnostics for Energy Systems (MODES)
- Simulation of Multiphysics and Analysis of Reacting Flows and Explosions (SPARX)
Labs and Capabilities
Advanced Multiscale Building Energy Research (AMBER) Lab
The Advanced Multiscale Building Energy Research (AMBER) Lab consists of a 16 x 18 x 12 ft3 state-of-the-art environmental chamber with its own air handling unit (AHU) that supplies filtered and conditioned air that can be used for future laboratory validations. The chamber serves as a piece of equipment that provides specific environmental conditions necessary for ventilation experiments, indoor air quality assessments, thermal performance of wall assemblies, and environmental perceptions of occupants. Some of the unique characteristics of the chamber are:
- Supply airflow rate range: 50–900 cfm
- Percent of outdoor air: 0–100 %
- Hydronic wall system: 1.6 kW glycol wall on one 18-ft walls with its own dedicated cooling and heating system
- Control system: able to communicate with MATLAB and EnergyPlus via Modbus RTU communication
- Chamber: controlled with a 6-core workstation
- Seven-speed ceiling fan: bidirectional flow (up and down) and remote control
The chamber is equipped with laboratory-rated sensors to measure chamber air temperature, relative humidity, air-flow rate, and the chamber wall surface temperature. Chamber control system can be constant, or one can dynamically change these variables following a programmed profile or numerical calculations. The chamber also has separate data acquisition (DAQ) for collecting all data related to heat flux and temperature measurements. The AMBER Lab has more than 50 thermistors, 8 hot-sphere omnidirectional anemometers, 4 heat flux meters, 2 infrared temperature sensors, 1 infrared camera that can be controlled remotely, and 8+ plug load meters.
Contact: Dr. Paulo Tabares-Velasco (tabares@mines.edu)
Website: amber.mines.edu/lab
Colorado Fuel Cell Center
The Colorado Fuel Cell Center (CFCC) develops electrochemical devices to address our nation’s needs in electricity generation and energy storage. Batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers and membrane reactors are all active topics of research and development. The CFCC has equipment and capabilities in the following areas (see cfcc.mines.edu/capabilities for complete details and specifications).
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC)
- SOFC component fabrication
- SOFC testing and characterization
- Separated-anode reactor
- System integration: kW-scale SOFCs
- Proton-conducting ceramics
Fuel Processing
- High-temperature flow reactor
- Catalytic stagnation-flow reactor
Modeling
- Detailed kinetic modeling
- SOFC modeling
- Partial oxidation and catalytic combustion modeling
CFCC researchers also use other facilities on campus, including
- Ceramics Processing Lab
- Electron Microscopy Lab
- Mechanical Testing and Forming Lab
- Materials characterization in various labs, including X-ray diffraction, small angle X-ray scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, and IR and Raman spectrometry
Contact: Dr. Neal Sullivan (nsulliva@mines.edu)
Website: cfcc.mines.edu
Energy Conversion and Storage Lab
The Energy Conversion and Storage Lab provides fabrication and testing equipment for a range of systems related to clean energy and water. Lab capabilities include:
- Spin coating
- Controlled temperature and humidity chamber for device testing at precisely controlled conditions
- Controlled environment furnaces for heating under controlled gas composition
- Low-oxygen and low-humidity glove box for battery testing
- Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) for highly resolved mass uptake and viscoelastic properties
- Electrochemical test equipment for batteries and fuel cells
The Energy Conversion and Storage Lab is shared by two research groups: CORES and the Jackson Research Group. Researchers also use shared capabilities located across campus, including the Rocky Mountain Center for Environmental XPS (https://www.mines.edu/exps), the Mines Electron Microscopy Lab (https://emlab.mines.edu), and the Mines NEXUS facilities (mines.edu/nexus).
Contacts:
Dr. Steven DeCaluwe (decaluwe@mines.edu) – CORES research group (cores-research.mines.edu)
Dr. Greg Jackson (gsjackso@mines.edu) – Jackson research group
Shock and Impact Lab
The mission of Mines Explosives Research Lab (ERL) is twofold: we are educating the next generation of engineers, scientists and professionals in the area of explosives engineering while also leveraging our research, facilities, processes, capabilities and experience to assist customers with explosives research and testing.
Mines is one of only a few institutions in the world that has broad expertise in energetic (explosives) education and research!
Mines ERL was established in 2002 with the encouragement of industrial and government partners to meet the heightened demand and immediate need for highly trained explosives professionals in both private and government sectors. Our current Director is Dr Veronica Eliasson, an Associate Professor in Mines Mechanical Engineering Department with a joint appointment in the Mining Engineering Department.
Contact: Dr. Veronica Eliasson (eliasson@mines.edu)
Website: eliasson.mines.edu
Mines Explosive Research Lab
Research Facilities & Capabilities
Mines’ Explosives Research Laboratory maintains two research facilities: the Outdoor Explosive Research Laboratory Site in Idaho Springs, CO, located at Mines Edgar Mine site, and the Indoor Small-Scale Laboratory on the Mines campus in Golden, CO.
These facilities maintain the capability to
- Measure explosive energy and post-detonation gases
- Experimentally test energetic material performance
- Experimentally study how different types of materials or articles survive blast loading
- Study effects of blasting, including measurements of air overpressure and ground vibration, and analyze fragmentation using novel methods
- Use novel techniques to create new energetic materials and test them on site
In addition, the Explosives Research Laboratory provides services and technical consulting for industry partners, and our research facilities are used to offer world-class explosives training for a variety of government and private groups.
LARGE-SCALE TEST SITE: THE OUTDOOR EXPLOSIVES RESEARCH LABORATORY
The Outdoor Explosive Research Laboratory is a 2000-acre property in Idaho Springs, CO, with the goal of being a world leader in explosives experimentation, testing and characterization.
The laboratory consists of multiple test sites and support facilities. The outdoor range has high-security cameras around the perimeter and security card access with support facilities including an on-site office, preparation and changing rooms, and a machine shop.
The laboratory is fully equipped for electricity, internet, and phone service and has access to earth-moving and other heavy equipment. The site has explosive storage according to ATF and state explosive permits. The outdoor range has an established net explosive weight up to 20 lb for open-air detonation.
We are currently constructing a new drift inside Edgar Mine, in the Sunburst drift, to create an advanced manufacturing facility for energetic materials. Initially, we are expanding the Sunburst drift, and then installation of concrete floors, shotcrete on the walls, electricity, ventilation and safety doors will begin.
Contact: Veronica Eliasson
eliasson@mines.edu
Website: eliasson.mines.edu
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