Topology optimization for energy problems

The optimal design of energy systems is a challenge due to the large design space and the complexity of the tightly-coupled multi-physics phenomena involved. Standard design methods consider a reduced design space, which heavily constrains the final geometry, suppressing the emergence of design trends. On the other hand, advanced design methods are often applied to academic examples with reduced physics complexity that seldom provide guidelines for real-world applications. This dissertation offers a systematic framework for the optimal design of energy systems by coupling detailed physical analysis and topology optimization. Contributions entail both method-related and application-oriented innovations. The method-related advances stem from the modification of topology optimization approaches in order to make practical improvements to selected energy systems. We develop optimization models that respond to realistic design needs, analysis models that consider full physics complexity and design models that allow dramatic design changes, avoiding convergence to unsatisfactory local minima and retaining analysis stability. The application-oriented advances comprise the identification of novel optimized geometries that largely outperform industrial solutions. A thorough analysis of these configurations gives insights into the relationship between design and physics, revealing unexplored design trends and suggesting useful guidelines for practitioners. Three different problems along the energy chain are tackled. The first one concerns thermal storage with latent heat units. The topology of mono-scale and multi-scale conducting structures is optimized using both density-based and level-set descriptions. The system response is predicted through a transient conjugate heat transfer model that accounts for phase change and natural convection. The optimization results yield a large acceleration of charge and discharge dynamics through three-dimensional geometries, specific convective features and optimized assemblies of periodic cellular materials. The second problem regards energy distribution with district heating networks. A fully deterministic robust design model and an adjoint-based control model are proposed, both coupled to a thermal and fluid-dynamic analysis framework constructed using a graph representation of the network. The numerical results demonstrate an increased resilience of the infrastructure thanks to particular connectivity layouts and its rapidity in handling mechanical failures. Finally, energy conversion with proton exchange membrane fuel cells is considered. An analysis model is developed that considers fluid flow, chemical species transport and electrochemistry and accounts for geometry modifications through a density-based description. The optimization results consist of intricate flow field layouts that promote both the efficiency and durability of the cell

Passive Micromixers

Micro-total analysis systems and lab-on-a-chip platforms are widely used for sample preparation and analysis, drug delivery, and biological and chemical syntheses. A micromixer is an important component in these applications. Rapid and efficient mixing is a challenging task in the design and development of micromixers. The flow in micromixers is laminar, and, thus, the mixing is primarily dominated by diffusion. Recently, diverse techniques have been developed to promote mixing by enlarging the interfacial area between the fluids or by increasing the residential time of fluids in the micromixer. Based on their mixing mechanism, micromixers are classified into two types: active and passive. Passive micromixers are easy to fabricate and generally use geometry modification to cause chaotic advection or lamination to promote the mixing of the fluid samples, unlike active micromixers, which use moving parts or some external agitation/energy for the mixing. Many researchers have studied various geometries to design efficient passive micromixers. Recently, numerical optimization techniques based on computational fluid dynamic analysis have been proven to be efficient tools in the design of micromixers. The current Special Issue covers new mechanisms, design, numerical and/or experimental mixing analysis, and design optimization of various passive micromixers

Serpentine minichannel liquid-cooled heat sinks for electronics cooling applications

The increasing density of transistors in electronic components is leading to an inexorable rise in the heat dissipation that must be achieved in order to preserve reliability and performance. Hence, improving the thermal management of electronic devices is a crucial goal for future generations of electronic systems. Therefore, a complementary experimental and numerical investigation of single-phase water flow and heat transfer characteristics of the benefits of employing three different configurations of serpentine minichannel heat sink (MCHS) designs has been performed, to assess their suitability for the thermal management of electronic devices. These heat sinks are termed single (SPSMs), double (DPSMs) and triple path serpentine rectangular minichannels (TPSMs), and their performance is compared, both experimentally and numerically, with that of a design based on an array of straight rectangular minichannels (SRMs) in terms of pressure drop (ΔP), average Nusselt number (Nuavg) and total thermal resistance (Rth). The results showed that the serpentine channel bends are very influential in improving heat transfer by preventing both the hydrodynamic and thermal boundary layers from attaining a fully-developed state. The SPSM design provides the most effective heat transfer, followed by the DPSM and TPSM ones, both of which out-performed the SRM heat sink. The SPSM heat sink produced a 35% enhancement in Nuavg and a 19% reduction in Rth at a volumetric flow rate (Qin) of 0.5 l/min compared to the conventional SRM heat sink. These improvements in the heat transfer are, however, achieved at the expense of significantly larger ΔP. It was found that the incorporation of serpentine minichannels into heat sinks will significantly increase the heat-removal ability, but this must be balanced with the pressure drop requirement. Therefore, an experimental and numerical investigation of the benefit of introducing chevron fins has been carried out to examine the potential of decreasing pressure drop along with further thermal enhancement. This novel design is found to significantly reduce both the ΔP across the heat sink and the Rth by up to 60% and 10%, respectively, and to enhance the Nuavg by 15%, compared with the SPSM heat sink without chevron fins. Consequently, the design of the SPSM with and without chevron fins was then optimised in terms of the minichannel width (Wch) number of minichannels (Nch) and chevron oblique angle (θ). The optimisation process uses a 30 (without chevron fins) and 50 (with chevron fins) point Optimal Latin Hypercubes Design of Experiment, generated from a permutation genetic algorithm, and accurate metamodels built using a Moving Least Square (MLS) method. A Pareto front is then constructed to enable the compromises available between designs with a low pressure drop and those with low thermal resistance to be explored and appropriate design parameters to be chosen. These techniques have then been used to explore the feasibility of using serpentine MCHS and heat spreaders to cool GaN HEMT

Experimental and numerical analysis of fuel cells

Fuel Cells are attractive power source for use in electronic applications. Physical phenomena (water generation, saturation effect in fuel cell, poisoning, and thermal stress) are studied that governs the operation of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) and Solid Oxide Fuel cell (SOFC). Additionally, experimental studies and numerical simulations on PEMFC gas flow channel, the determination of the impact of the single channel fuel cell are presented. Furthermore, preliminary study is done for the application of APS (Air Plasma Spray) to SOFC and adhesion of anode and cathode with electrolytes for the determination of parameters involved in manufacturing the components of fuel cell. The new aspects on physical phenomena are significantly different from the currently popular relationships used in fuel cells as they are simplified from simulation and experimental results. In prior work, the physical phenomena such as water generation, saturation effect in fuel cell, poisoning, and thermal stress etc. are either assumed or used as adjustment parameters to simplify them or to achieve best fits with polarization data. In this work, physical phenomena are not assumed but determined via newly developed experimental and numerical techniques. The experimental fixtures and procedures were used to find better ways to control parameters of gas flow channel configurations for optimizing gas flow rates and performance, and gas flow channel pressure swing for CO poisoning recovery. The experimental results reveal controlling parameters for the mentioned cases and innovative design for Fuel cells. Numerical modeling were used to 2D and later 3D for simplification of single channel fuel cell model, transient localized heating to the catalyst layer for CO recovery, thermal stress that developed during SOFC fabrication by High Temperature vacuum Tube Furnace (HTVTF), and Gas Diffusion Layer and Gas Flow Channel (GDL-GFC) interfacial conditions with results based on commonly used relationships from the PEMFC literature. The modeling works reveal substantial impact on predicted GDL saturation, and consequently cause a significant impact on cell performance. Computational parametric relations and polarization curve results are compared to experimental polarization behavior which achieved a comparable relation

Thermal transport investigation and parametric study in cylindrical oblique fin minichannel heat sink

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Characterisation of concentrating solar optics by Light Field Method

Abstract: This dissertation develops ideas and techniques for the measurement of the light field produced by the concentrating optics that are used in solar thermal power systems. The research focussed on developing a framework and the principles for the implementation of a scalable technology that is suitable, in principle, for cost effective industrial implementation in the field. Investigation from first principles and technological surveys resulted in formulation of a number of model techniques, from which one was developed. A key component of the proposed model was evaluated using a novel reformulation and application of electrical impedance tomography (EIT). This was to implement an information transform effecting a highly non-linear compressive sensing mechanism, offsetting manufacturing and material complexity in the measurement of high solar flux levels. The technique allows sensing of a wide range of phenomena over arbitrary manifolds in three-dimensional space by utilizing passive transducers. An inverse reconstruction method particular to the structure of the device was proposed, implemented, and tested in a full simulation of intended operation. The parameter space of internal configurations of the method were the subject of a uniform, statistical search, with results also indicating geometrical properties of the transform used. A variety of design guides were developed to better optimize the implementation of the techniques in a range of applications.M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering Science

Cross-Layer Pathfinding for Off-Chip Interconnects

Off-chip interconnects for integrated circuits (ICs) today induce a diverse design space, spanning many different applications that require transmission of data at various bandwidths, latencies and link lengths. Off-chip interconnect design solutions are also variously sensitive to system performance, power and cost metrics, while also having a strong impact on these metrics. The costs associated with off-chip interconnects include die area, package (PKG) and printed circuit board (PCB) area, technology and bill of materials (BOM). Choices made regarding off-chip interconnects are fundamental to product definition, architecture, design implementation and technology enablement. Given their cross-layer impact, it is imperative that a cross-layer approach be employed to architect and analyze off-chip interconnects up front, so that a top-down design flow can comprehend the cross-layer impacts and correctly assess the system performance, power and cost tradeoffs for off-chip interconnects. Chip architects are not exposed to all the tradeoffs at the physical and circuit implementation or technology layers, and often lack the tools to accurately assess off-chip interconnects. Furthermore, the collaterals needed for a detailed analysis are often lacking when the chip is architected; these include circuit design and layout, PKG and PCB layout, and physical floorplan and implementation. To address the need for a framework that enables architects to assess the system-level impact of off-chip interconnects, this thesis presents power-area-timing (PAT) models for off-chip interconnects, optimization and planning tools with the appropriate abstraction using these PAT models, and die/PKG/PCB co-design methods that help expose the off-chip interconnect cross-layer metrics to the die/PKG/PCB design flows. Together, these models, tools and methods enable cross-layer optimization that allows for a top-down definition and exploration of the design space and helps converge on the correct off-chip interconnect implementation and technology choice. The tools presented cover off-chip memory interfaces for mobile and server products, silicon photonic interfaces, 2.5D silicon interposers and 3D through-silicon vias (TSVs). The goal of the cross-layer framework is to assess the key metrics of the interconnect (such as timing, latency, active/idle/sleep power, and area/cost) at an appropriate level of abstraction by being able to do this across layers of the design flow. In additional to signal interconnect, this thesis also explores the need for such cross-layer pathfinding for power distribution networks (PDN), where the system-on-chip (SoC) floorplan and pinmap must be optimized before the collateral layouts for PDN analysis are ready. Altogether, the developed cross-layer pathfinding methodology for off-chip interconnects enables more rapid and thorough exploration of a vast design space of off-chip parallel and serial links, inter-die and inter-chiplet links and silicon photonics. Such exploration will pave the way for off-chip interconnect technology enablement that is optimized for system needs. The basis of the framework can be extended to cover other interconnect technology as well, since it fundamentally relates to system-level metrics that are common to all off-chip interconnects

Modeling Water Management in Polymer-Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Fuel cells may become the energy-delivery devices of the 21st century with realization of a carbon-neutral energy economy. Although there are many types of fuel cells, polymerelectrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) are receiving the most attention for automotive and small stationary applications. In a PEFC, hydrogen and oxygen are combined electrochemically to produce water, electricity, and waste heat. During the operation of a PEFC, many interrelated and complex phenomena occur. These processes include mass and heat transfer, electrochemical reactions, and ionic and electronic transport. Most of these processes occur in the through-plane direction in what we term the PEFC sandwich as shown in Figure 1. This sandwich comprises multiple layers including diffusion media that can be composite structures containing a macroporous gas-diffusion layer (GDL) and microporous layer (MPL), catalyst layers (CLs), flow fields or bipolar plates, and a membrane. During operation fuel is fed into the anode flow field, moves through the diffusion medium, and reacts electrochemically at the anode CL to form hydrogen ions and electrons. The oxidant, usually oxygen in air, is fed into the cathode flow field, moves through the diffusion medium, and is electrochemically reduced at the cathode CL by combination with the generated protons and electrons. The water, either liquid or vapor, produced by the reduction of oxygen at the cathode exits the PEFC through either the cathode or anode flow field. The electrons generated at the anode pass through an external circuit and may be used to perform work before they are consumed at the cathode. The performance of a PEFC is most often reported in the form of a polarization curve, as shown in Figure 2. Roughly speaking, the polarization curve can be broken down into various regions. First, it should be noted that the equilibrium potential differs from the open-circuit voltage due mainly to hydrogen crossover through the membrane (i.e., a mixed potential on the cathode) and the resulting effects of the kinetic reactions. Next, at low currents, the behavior of a PEFC is dominated by kinetic losses. These losses mainly stem from the high overpotential of the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR). As the current is increased, ohmic losses become a factor in lowering the overall cell potential. These ohmic losses are mainly from ionic losses in the electrodes and separator. At high currents, mass-transport limitations become increasingly important. These losses are due to reactants not being able to reach the electrocatalytic sites. Key among the issues facing PEFCs today is water management. Due to their low operating temperature (< 100 C), water exists in both liquid and vapor phases. Furthermore, state-of-the-art membranes require the use of water to provide high conductivity and fast proton transport. Thus, there is a tradeoff between having enough water for proton conduction (ohmic losses), but not too much or else the buildup of liquid water will cause a situation in which the reactant-gas-transport pathways are flooded (mass-transfer limitations). Figure 3 displays experimental evidence of the effects of water management on performance. In Figure 3(a), a neutron image of water content displays flooding near the outlet of the cell due to accumulation of liquid water and a decrease in the gas flowrates. The serpentine flow field is clearly visible with the water mainly underneath the ribs. Figure 3(b) shows polarization performance at 0.4 and 0.8 V and high-frequency resistance at 0.8 V as a function of cathode humidification temperature. At low current densities, as the inlet air becomes more humid, the membrane resistance decreases, and the performance increases. At higher current densities, the same effect occurs; however, the higher temperatures and more humid air also results in a lower inlet oxygen partial pressure

Dimensional Metrology and Thermo-Fluid Studies on Additively Manufactured Transpiration Cooling Structures

The rapid advancement in metallic additive manufacturing (AM) has provided us with new opportunities and challenges to apply more sophisticated cooling designs to protect high-temperature components in gas turbines. With the benefits of high design freedom and structural complexity, the direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) AM technique can fabricate cooling passages into microscale in a highly compact fashion, making transpiration cooling feasible in turbine airfoil to protect hot surfaces. In this research, an accurate dimensional characterization technique of microscale cooling passages was developed, and the related thermo-fluid performance was studied. The DMLS process produces microchannels with deformations and surface roughness, which significantly impact thermo-fluid performance. The state-of-the-art micro-CT scanners hardly work for intricate AM transpiration cooling structures due mainly to limitations in penetration rate and detection precision on heavy metals. In this research, a high-precision scanning electron microscope (SEM) characterization combined with a multi-level image segmentation method was employed to statistically analyze the geometric dimensions of microchannels made by AM. Based on the characterization results, surface improvement techniques were used to generate expected channel sizes, preparing for the cooling effectiveness studies with various geometric parameters. Most previous experimental studies on transpiration cooling focused only on cooling effectiveness, leaving a significant vacancy in the literature on the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) at the target surfaces. Two classic methods to investigate HTC, the steady-state foil heater method and the transient thermography technique, both fail for transpiration cooling. That is because the foil heater would block numerous coolant outlets, and the transient semi-infinite solid medium theory no longer holds for porous plates. In this study, a micro-lithography technique was employed to precisely coat a patterned surface heater directly on top of the low thermally conductive test plate to determine the HTC distributions. The dimensional variations created by AM fabrication generate inhomogeneity of cooling performance at the target surface. Moreover, the various hole size would cause clogging issues of the smallest channels during operation, which would, in turn, affect the cooling performance as well. A machine learning model was developed in this work to predict cooling effectiveness distributions from these contributing factors