Career: Understanding Radiative Transport in Flowing and Reactive Participating Media with Integrated Models and Measurements

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。从天空中日出日落的色调，到太阳能电池，再到夜视相机，辐射传输的能量无处不在。预测和控制热辐射与物质的相互作用对于热能和太阳能反应堆技术的成功至关重要。然而，对含有流动和反应性粒子的动态系统中的辐射输运的评估是热科学界的一个基本挑战。模型开发中的挑战源于跟踪辐射与不断演变的粒子群的相互作用的必要性。流动可以影响颗粒的空间分布，化学反应可以影响颗粒的大小、形状、浓度和材料特性。在实验上，分离由于复合物理效应而产生的测量结果的潜在相关性也带来了复杂性。该项目的总体愿景是使用计算建模和互补测量来建立对流动-辐射-反应耦合的更全面的理解。与密歇根大学博物馆合作，制定了一项综合教育和推广计划，旨在提高对太阳能技术的识字率和兴奋度，特别是在密歇根州妇女和代表性不足的初中生和高中生中。这将通过对研究生进行科学交流培训、通过互动示范进行社区推广以及为中学生开发课程来实现。主要研究目标是通过在高温热系统、燃料生产的热化学和光催化反应器中的应用，促进对流动和反应粒子中辐射传输的基本和机理的理解。该方法是对选定的材料、流动结构和反应系统使用概率和确定性技术进行辐射的直接数值模拟。这些严格但计算密集的模型将与更容易处理的数据驱动模型和实验测量相联系，以推导出广义的辐射和热传递关联。开发了新的实验技术来测量运动中的粒子温度，使用高速热成像和光纤测温。测量将被用来建立关于如何将粒子集合功能化以实现更好的辐射和整体能量传输的新知识。除了开发强大的计算分析和实验诊断工具外，还将通过绘制几个关键的无量纲参数对系统的传热性能、能量转换效率和燃料生产率的影响来培养更深层次的理解。通过建立这一目前缺失的环节，该项目将帮助快速跟踪材料开发，并为一系列能源系统的设计和运营提供信息，以提高其整体性能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).From sunrise and sunset hues in the sky, to solar cells, to night vision cameras, energy transported as radiation is pervasive around us. Predicting and controlling thermal radiation interactions with matter is crucial for the success of thermal and solar reactor technologies. However, evaluation of radiative transport in dynamic systems with flowing and reactive particles is a fundamental challenge in the thermal sciences community. Challenges in model development stem from the necessity to track interactions of radiation with ensembles of particles that are continually evolving. Flow can affect spatial distributions of particles, and chemical reactions can influence size, shape, and particle concentration, and material properties. Experimentally, isolating underlying dependencies of measured outcomes due to compounded physical effects also poses complexities. The overarching vision of this project is to establish a more holistic understanding of this flow-radiation-reaction coupling using computational modeling with complementary measurements. An integrated education and outreach plan has been developed, in partnership with the University of Michigan Museum, aimed at increasing literacy and excitement for solar energy technologies, especially amongst women and underrepresented middle- and high-school students in Michigan. This will be accomplished through training in scientific communication for graduate students, community outreach with interactive demonstrations, and curriculum development for middle schoolers. The main research goal is to advance the fundamental and mechanistic understanding of radiative transport in flowing and reactive particles with applications to high-temperature thermal systems, and thermochemical and photocatalytic reactors for fuels production. The approach is to perform direct numerical simulations of radiation using probabilistic and deterministic techniques for selected materials, flow configurations and reacting systems. These rigorous, yet computationally intensive models will be connected to more tractable data-driven models and experimental measurements to deduce generalized radiative- and heat-transfer correlations. New experimental techniques are developed to measure particle temperatures, while in motion, using high-speed thermal imaging and fiber-optic pyrometry. Measurements will be used to establish new knowledge on how ensembles of particles can be functionalized to achieve improved radiative and overall energy transport. In addition to developing powerful computational analyses and experimental diagnostic tools, a deep level of understanding will be cultivated by mapping the influence of several key dimensionless parameters on a system’s heat-transfer performance, energy conversion efficiencies and the rates of fuel production. By establishing this currently missing link, the project will help fast-track materials development and inform design and operation for a host of energy systems to boost their overall performance.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.