| Biography | |
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 Prof. Ir. Dr. Basil T. Wong Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia |
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| Title: Modeling of Nanoscale Heat Transfer in Thin-Film Solar and Thermophotovoltaic Cells | |
| Abstract: All natural physicochemical and biological phenomena are based on intertwined and complex energy and mass transfer mechanisms. These mechanisms are also the main drivers for all man-inspired energy-conversion processes. In a conversion process, the total energy is always conserved, as described by the first law of thermodynamics. When heat losses at the boundaries are included, the steady-state condition is achieved at the end of the process. This “large-scale” picture is applicable to bulk materials and stays valid as we go down to sub-micrometer scales. Yet, with the further decrease in size, more attention needs to be paid to the energy carriers themselves rather than treating energy as an average quantity. Particularly at the length scales below 100 nm, the interactions of electrons and electromagnetic waves with the lattice structure of the matter become quite different than those for the bulk systems. Thermodynamic properties including temperature are based on the “continuum” definition, which may not be valid at the molecular level or at the size range of a few nanometers. This means that the traditional laws of energy transfer may not be readily applicable to nanoscale energy and mass transfer problems. This requires solving of the Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) for describing various thermal transport mechanisms. The BTE is an intergo-differential equation and analytical/numerical solutions are hard to obtain without elaborated assumptions. In this talk, we will discuss modeling of nanoscale heat transfer in thin-film solar and thermophotovoltaic cells. We will focus on the required governing equations of electrons and phonons, based on the BTE, for applications in energy-conversion processes. Discussion will also be made on our current effort in simulating these processes. | |
| Biography: Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Basil T. Wong graduated from the University of Kentucky, USA in 2006 with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering specializing in thermodynamics and fluid mechanics/dynamics area. He is the Associate Dean (Research & Development) and an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, Computing, and Science at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia. His research focuses on heat transfers and energy conversions at the nanoscale, light scattering in participating media, as well as energy-saving mechanisms in building HVAC implementation. He has authored a monograph on thermal transport at nanoscale with application to nanomachining, which was used as a reference book for his ‘Nanoscale Thermal Science’ graduate classes back in the USA, and published 65+ articles in reputed journals and conferences. As a principal investigator, he has won multiple national grants, and reviewed journal articles for many reputed international journals related to heat transfer, energy, and radiative transfer. In addition, he has served as an external grant proposal reviewer on multiple occasions for the French National Research Agency (ANR) and Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). Details of Keynote Presenter Full name: Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Basil T. Wong Linked In account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/basil-t-wong-10071828/ Research group website: https://sites.google.com/view/basiltwong/ Email id: twong@swinburne.edu.my | |
