Lecture:Multiscale Thermal Transport Management for Sustainable Energy Systems

Lecturer:Dr. Weihong Li

Time: July 15^th, 2021, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Avenue: A 403, State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology Exploitation

Abstract：Thermal transport processes and engineering play a pivotal role in contributing to sustainable energy systems. Recent thermal transport management techniques are becoming more sophisticated due to emerging advanced materials and manufacturing manners. In this talk, I will elaborate on my efforts to develop advanced thermal materials and structures for aerospace and energy systems. In the first part, I will introduce some solar absorbing materials aiming to control and manipulate interfacial phase change phenomena, e.g., anti-fogging, and anti-icing. The spectral properties of the solar absorbing coatings are tuned to adapt to varied scenarios, e.g., where visible transparency is required. By harnessing unlimited solar energy, these materials can serve as sustainable and eco-friendly anti-fogging and anti-icing coatings andanti-icing materials for aerospace systems. In the second part, I will show my efforts in designing new gas turbine cooling structures for the next-generation gas turbines, followed by detailed thermofluidic studies of impingement cooling, film cooling, and overall conjugate cooling. Improved turbine protection allows higher turbine inlet temperatures and thus increased cycle efficiency, contributing to more sustainable propulsion devices.

Bio

Dr. Weihong Li is a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He also served as a Junior Fellow at the HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. Degrees from Department of Energy and Power Engineering of the Tsinghua University in 2013 and 2018, respectively. After that he worked as a Research Associate at James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, UK. His research interests lie in gas turbine thermal management, heat and mass transport, interfacial materials and phenomena, and solar energy utilization. Over the last five years, he has authored/co-authored 25 peer-reviewed journal papers. He has been awarded Young Engineer Award by International Gas Turbine Institute of ASME owing to his contribution to the gas turbine community. Dr. Weihong Li will join City University of Hong Kong as an Assistant Professor and establish the Multiscale Energy Transport Lab (METLAB, https://mecityu.wixsite.com/metlab). His lab has several openings for PhD and Postdocs in the fall 2021 and spring 2022 and welcome anyone to contact him with mewhli@ust.hk.

Organizer and sponsor:Science and Technology Department 

                        Petroleum Engineering School