CET researchers awarded Solar Energy journal best paper 2021
Congratulations to mechanical engineering researchers Dr Matthew Emes, Dr Azadeh Jafari and Prof Maziar Arjomandi for receiving the Solar Energy Journal Best Paper Award 2021 from the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).
Solar Energy journal best paper award winners Dr Matthew Emes, Dr Azadeh Jafari and Prof Maziar Arjomandi.
The biennial award was announced at the ISES Solar World Congress on Thursday 28 October (US Eastern time). The virtual event, which was held from 25-29 October 2021, connected the scientific and research community with renewable energy decision-makers, developers, financers, and practitioners to highlight key technology advances that are taking place in the field of solar and renewable energy.
Solar Energy, the official journal of the International Solar Energy Society, is devoted exclusively to the science and technology of solar energy applications.
The Society was founded in 1954 and is now incorporated as a non-profit educational and scientific institution.
With participation encompassing 100 countries, ISES serves as a centre for information on research and development in solar energy utilisation. Through its publications and its sponsorship of technical conferences, the Society provides a world forum for the active consideration of solar energy.
The paper investigated the aerodynamic wind loads on scale-model heliostats in the Thebarton wind tunnel to characterise the effects of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) turbulence on the maximum wind loads on full-scale heliostats. A techno-economic sensitivity analysis of the design wind loads on different heliostat components indicated that their structural cost becomes increasingly sensitive to terrain roughness with increasing heliostat size. The results in the paper form a key component of Heliostat Wind Load Design Guidelines, developed as part of the SolarPACES Task III working group. The guidelines aim to provide a useful engineering tool for heliostat designers to estimate the loads on full-scale heliostats and reduce the cost of lighter structural components, based on the variation of ABL turbulence characteristics at different heliostat field sites.
For more information and to read the award winning paper, see:
Matthew J. Emes, Azadeh Jafari, Joe Coventry, Maziar Arjomandi, “The influence of atmospheric boundary layer turbulence on the design wind loads and cost of heliostats,” Solar Energy, Volume 207, 1 September 2020, Pages 796-812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.07.022
About the researchers
Professor Maziar Arjomandi is currently the Research Director of the School of Mechanical Engineering and a member of School of Mechanical Engineering Executive. He is a leading researcher in experimental and numerical aerodynamics and fluid mechanics with the application in energy systems and aerospace engineering, in particular:
- Renewable energy (concentrated solar thermal systems, wind turbines, wave and tidal energy, hybrid energy systems, bio-fuels and hydrogen production)
- Aerodynamics (active and passive flow control, bluff body aerodynamics, vortex flow, atmospheric boundary layer, airfoil circulation control, flapping wing aerodynamics, plasma aerodynamics, WIG aerodynamics)
- Fluid mechanics (flow induced vibration FIV and vortex induced vibration VIV, vortex flow, multi-phase flow, hemodynamics, micro- and nano-fluids)
- Heat transfer and thermodynamics (natural convection, boiling and bubble study, radiation, chemical reactions and combustion)
Dr Azadeh Jafari is a Research Associate with the School of Mechanical Engineering. Her research focuses include wall-bounded turbulence, flow control, turbulence in the atmospheric surface layer, experimental aerodynamics and wind loads on heliostats in a Concentrating Solar Thermal Plant.
Dr Matthew Emes is a Research Associate in the School of Mechanical Engineering. His research involves developing innovative techniques for measuring and characterising atmospheric turbulence in wind tunnel and field experiments. This work is carried out within the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative (ASTRI) project to reduce the cost of heliostats, with Matthew leading the heliostat wind load and aerodynamics team to pursue his research interests in the sustainability and development of renewable energy technologies.