The proposed effort is one of the first of its kind to pursue using a novel nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging technique to study multiphase heat transfer systems that are common in industrial applications. The result can impact and improve understanding and design of systems. Both graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in the proposed effort. The PIs will focus on recruiting woman and Native American students.
The proposed effort will use novel NMR imaging experiments to measure velocity and temperature profiles in multiphase porous media systems, including micro-encapsulated PCMs (phase change materials). The approach is novel and offers the potential to extend the capabilities of NMR applied to the fundamental study of thermo-fluid systems. The high spatial resolution of NMR is first calibrated with well know PCM materials and will provide data to study and quantify transport at the micro-scale (pore size) in porous media systems. The work will also incorporate CFD modeling and analysis that captures the complexity of the experiment that will produce new information to allow for a finer level of examination of the models used to relate micro-scale physical processes to macro-scale heat transfer.
