ABSTRACT: Heat transfer and chemical reactions in multiphase flows involving particles play a crucial role in energy and catalysis technologies. I will discuss my research group’s discoveries and insights gained from thermal transport models and measurements in multiphase, gas-solid flows, targeting the decarbonization of grid-scale power generation through concentrated solar power plants. Sand-like ceramic particles emerge as leading contenders for low cost, inert, and thermally stable heat-transfer, and thermal storage media in the next generation of concentrated solar power plants. Our focus has been to understand and predict radiative and multimode heat transfer in granular flows with these particles. We have developed unique modeling capabilities that combine radiative and conductive heat transfer models with particle tracking to capture the flow behavior. This framework provides unparalleled capabilities to probe materials, flow and radiation coupling in these systems. To further assess heat-transfer behavior, we measure high-temperature radiative material properties, and ongoing experimental campaigns leverage this knowledge to perform operando thermal measurements to probe the heat-transfer behavior of dense moving-beds of particles. Finally, I will touch on recent and forthcoming efforts in my group centered on reactive particles to store thermal energy in chemical bonds to shift thermal loads in buildings, and towards solar hydrogen production from water splitting using semiconductor particles as photocatalysts. Collectively, these innovations inform the development of high-efficiency materials and the design/operation of thermal and thermochemical systems to facilitate large-scale decarbonization of power, heat, fuels, and other valuable commodities.

BIOSKETCH: Rohini Bala Chandran is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan since January 2018. Previously, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and obtained an M.S. (2010) and Ph.D. (2015) from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in Mechanical Engineering. At Michigan, Prof. Bala Chandran leads the Transport and Reaction Engineering for Sustainable Energy Lab (TREE Lab) to pursue research at the intersection of thermal and chemical sciences. Dr. Bala Chandran is a recipient of the ASME Bergles-Rohsenow Young Investigator Award (2023), NSF-CAREER award (2022), a Doctoral New Investigator award from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (2021), and one of 100 selected attendees at the US Frontiers of Engineering meeting organized by the National Academy of Engineering (2020).