What is the focus of our research?
Porous functional materials are widely used in reaction engineering, adsorption, membrane technology and many other areas of process engineering such as fuel cells or Li-air batteries. The production of these materials is based mainly on experimental experience and qualitative considerations. The properties of porous functional materials are measured in experimental series, e.g. to derive phenomenological descriptions for the macroscopic transport.
Our research group deals with the prediction of the formation of the porous structure of the materials during the manufacturing process and the prediction of the transport properties. While computational methods are established for single-phase transport, multiphase transport (e.g., gas / liquid) is still the subject of research.
To describe pore formation on the basis of fundamental physical and chemical principles, a simulation tool (SiPER) was developed, which allows to describe moving interfaces in complex geometries, dynamic contact angles and the dynamics of phase separation. This enables the simulation of pore-scale structure formation, for example in spray drying and in membrane precipitation (phase inversion). Also, the penetration of electrolyte into the pores of a Teflon / silver electrode could be simulated successfully.
In addition to the description on the pore scale, the derivation of macroscopic models based on the results on the pore scale is the subject of current research.
Current research projects [de]
- Detaillierte Modellierung der Porenbildung bei der Herstellung von porösen Polymermembranen
- Modellierung von Transport und Elektrolytverteilung auf der Porenskala
- Simulation der Morphologieausbildung von offenporigen Materialien
- Kombinierte Material- und Verfahrensentwicklung für effiziente Adsorptionswärmepumpen
Completed research projects [de]
- Application of Electromembrane System: Reverse Electrodialysis with Bipolar Membranes as an Energy Storage System
- Numerical and experimental validation of micro-pore transport models in process engineering
- Strukturausbildung bei der Herstellung pulverförmiger Feststoffe
- Direct numerical simulation of two-phase flow transport properties in the gas diffusion layer of PEM fuel cells
- Solar air conditioning – An efficient adsorption cooling process
- Transport-Interaktionen zwischen Gas und Wasser in dünnen, hydrophoben porösen Schichten
- Simulation of the morphogenesis of open-porous materials
Contact
Ulrich Nieken
Prof. Dr.-Ing.Institutsleiter