Jorge L. Alvarado Assistant Professor Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution Specialty: Applied Fluid Mechanics and Applied Thermal Sciences

PI Alvarado’s Research Interests Convective Heat Transfer –Nanofluids as secondary heat transfer fluids –Microencapsulated phase change material slurry –Thermophysical properties of heat transfer fluids –Advanced spray cooling Energy Management and Conservation, and Renewable Energy –Ground Source Heat Pumps –Passive Cooling –Solar refrigeration –Waste-to-Energy conversion through pure oxidation Amorphous Metallic Alloys Bio-based fuels Bio-medical devices –Interferometry-based micro-flowmeter

Current Projects Development of novel heat transfer fluids –Phase change materials (enhanced heat capacity) –Nanoparticles/carbon nanotubes (enhanced thermal conductivity and heat transfer) –Full characterization of formulated heat transfer fluids –Sponsors: Army Corps of Engineers, California Energy Commission, NSF Advanced spray cooling –Maximization of gas-liquid interfacial area to enhance heat transfer –Sponsor: Office of Naval Research (ONR)

Current Projects Passive cooling system for tropical and subtropical regions –Developed low-cost insulation system for concrete roofs Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP) –Lab-scale set up –Sponsor: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning (ASHRAE) Amorphous Metallic Alloys (AMA) –Thermal characterization of AMA –Sponsor: Army Corps of Engineers

Future Projects Power Harvesting in electronic system –Take advantage of waste heat for power generation Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) –Use nanomaterials to improve thermal performance Solar Refrigeration –Use of carbon nanotubes and methanol

Education and Training New state-of-the-art Fluid Power Lab –Hands on training –Computer simulation –Endowed lab by Womack –Equipment donated by Bosch-Rexroth New Fluid Transfer (Pump Lab) –3-day courses for industry professionals –Endowed lab by DXP CO-PI on new Power Engineering Technology Program –Thermal engineering