Professor Yulong Ding visited us from the University of Birmingham today, and gave the first seminar of Lent term. The title of the seminar was: “Multiphase Transport Phenomena and Energy Process Intensification”.
He started by talking about a few energy storage techniques which have been developed by his group over the years, including liquid air energy storage.
Professor Ding then presented his recent work on latent heat thermal energy storage based on composite phase-change materials. He described the design of a heat storage unit, and discussed the advantages and challenges of different designs.
Professor Ding’s research group is also interested in thermochemical energy storage, using a combination of hydrate salts and composite materials.
Before lunch, there was just time enough to discuss briefly how different energy storage technologies are appropriate for different time scales.
As always, lunch was offered for all following the seminar.