Visitor Seminar: “Sorption‐based Selective Gas Management: from Microscale Physics to Macroscale Systems”

The Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP‐C) of a wide range of energy‐related systems depend on selective gas management (i.e., capture, rejection, and storage) of candidate species in a multi‐species gas stream. Particularly, selective gas management is central to the advancement of two emerging areas of air conditioning (AC) and spacecraft crew‐generated carbon dioxide removal systems for life support on earth and in space. For air conditioning systems, effective and/or independent humidity management is a key concept to the development of future energy‐efficient AC systems as existing vapor‐compression‐ based technologies cannot efficiently treat humidity. For current and future human space exploration missions, high‐performance carbon dioxide removal systems are required as current systems utilize packed sorbent beds which have high‐pressure drops and poor heat and mass transfer characteristics. In this talk, recent progress made in my research group on solid and liquid sorption‐based selective gas management is reviewed. First, a macroscale system‐level view of such systems will be presented. This includes textured, membrane‐based, and 3D‐printed desiccant systems. Then, a microscale transport‐ level view of the involved processes will be discussed. The three critical processes of interest include exothermic ab/adsorption, endothermic desorption, and condensation. Finally, future research challenges and opportunities will be reviewed.

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Sajjad Bigham is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in 2016. He has 15 years of experience in thermally‐activated technologies and energy efficiency R&D. His research group, Energy eXploration Laboratory (energy‐X lab), is an interdisciplinary research laboratory striving to establish a high‐impact research and education program for tackling high‐risk, high‐reward problems. The group focuses on phase‐change phenomena, thermal management, advanced sorption‐ based heat pumps and air conditioning systems, desalination, and high‐temperature thermal energy exchange/transport/storage. The energy‐X group has attached more than $4M research funding over the past five years. He has extensive experience in managing large, interdisciplinary, multi‐institutional collaborative research efforts sponsored by DOE‐BTO/SETO, ARPA‐E, NASA, and industry. He has 29 peer‐ reviewed journal publications, 23 conf. presentations, one book chapter, and 3 U.S. patents.