Research focuses on thermal management and thermal control for industrial applications, from the study of high performance heat transfer surfaces, the enhancement of convective heat transfer to spray cooling and LED cooling. We have a particular research focus on heat pipes and two-phase passive systems.
We use a range of analytic, numerical and experimental techniques to examine flow, temperature, heat and mass transfer in two-phase systems and through complex surfaces. We are able to design, simulate and develop heat sinks and heat pipe systems.
We improve understanding of transfer processes and their application to engineering problems, including environmental and microgravity applications.
The group has unrivalled expertise in:
- heat pipes and other two-phase thermal systems
- combined heat and mass transfer analysis
- heat exchanger testing
- thermal management of industrial components
- local velocity and turbulence measurement
- heat transfer and flow resistance measurement
- local heat transfer measurement
- laser sheet flow visualisation and particle image velocimetry (PIV)
- computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and heat transfer.
We benefit from industry-leading technology, including climatic wind tunnels, test cells, hot-wire anemometers and mass transfer analysers.
We use state-of-the-art software for CFD, including OpenFOAM, and we have an international reputation for modelling research in the field of sprays, evaporation and heat pipes.
Through our pioneering research, we collaborate with industry and academic partners around the world to discover new ways to harness and use power more efficiently, constantly transferring theory into practice in our quest for cleaner, better methods and design.
Professor Marco Marengo
Professor of Thermal Engineering
Microgravity experiments are helping in the design of future space equipment.