The micro thermo fluidics group investigates heat and mass transport in micro-channels and porous materials for various applications ranging from electronics cooling to heat storage. Understanding small-scale effects, including molecular interactions, is crucial for these systems as they significantly impact overall system behavior.

We aim to address challenges in high-tech systems and promote sustainability by enhancing energy management and developing innovative cooling strategies.

Within this group, the research focuses on two main pillars:

1. Thermal control for high-tech systems, focusing on the development of advanced cooling techniques, such as evaporative cooling for micro-electronics and considering molecular flows in low-pressure environments machines.
2. Healthy and sustainable energy systems, focusing on dynamic modeling of human thermal comfort and optimizing seasonal heat storage using molecular-level insights and stochastic techniques.

For all research areas, we follow a multi-scale approach that starts at the molecular level and scales up through stochastic methods to derive accurate continuum models, enabling optimization and understanding of complex thermal phenomena.

Some research examples:

• Gas-wall interactions in rarefied gas systems
• Evaporative cooling and transport
• Seasonal heat storage using thermochemical materials
• Dynamic human thermoregulation models

More information: Arjan Frijns

“to tackle the greatest challenges, grasp the tiniest details”