The traditional Rector’s Award for the Best Innovation of the University of Ljubljana promotes innovation at the University of Ljubljana and helps innovators on their way to the market. The competition was divided into two categories: 1st category of students and alumni and 2nd category of researchers employed full-time at […]
We are hiring /job advertisementThe Laboratory for Refrigeration and District Energy at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (University of Ljubljana) is actively seeking qualified researchers with diverse experience and education levels (M.Sc. or PhD) to support its scientific (academic) and industry-related research and development projects. The group develops state-of-the-art and […]
The Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (ARRS) will finance a basic science project entitled TCCbuilder: An open-source simulation tool for thermal control circuits. The project was selected together with 12 other projects of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering UL.The project concerns the development of World’s first numerical […]
We have published a research paper on preparation of metal-ceramic multi-layered composites using only the aerosol-deposition technique in collaboration with researchers from Josef Stefan Institute. The article was published in the journal Materials.
We have published a research paper on numerical modelling of multi-layered LaFeCoSi active magnetic regenerator by using artificial neural networks in collaboration with researchers from University of Salerno. The article was published in the journal Applied Thermal Engineering.
A paper on increasing thermal rectification using multi-layered materials has been published in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Twente. The article was published in the journal iScience.
Eurotherm CHC (Caloric Heating and Cooling) 2020 is another scientific seminar that was postponed from last year to 2021. It took place virtually between 13 and 15 July. The LAHDE laboratory participated in 4 conference papers and an invited lecture:Cool future: magnetocaloric devices based on static and rare earth free […]
AIM (Advances in magnetics) 2020 is another scientific conference that was postponed from last year to 2021. It took place virtually between 13 and 16 June. The LAHDE laboratory presented two papers and an invited lecture:The future of magnetic refrigeration and heat pumping (Andrej Kitanovski)Design, enhanced thermal and flow efficiency […]
The 10th IIR International Conference on Caloric Cooling and Applications of Caloric Materials is hosted by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana. The conference will be held in a hybrid format (live and virtual) from 28 August to 1 September 2022. Would you like to receive more information? […]
After a one-year delay, the 9th International IIR Conference on Caloric Cooling and Use of Caloric Materials was held in June 2021. Although the conference was held in virtual format, many interesting research activities were presented. For more information on the conferences, please visit this website. Members of the LAHDE […]
The condensation of humid air is a crucial step in air conditioning and process engineering. However, the models that describe the condensation of vapour in the presence of a non-condensable gas require time-consuming numerical calculations that go beyond the Nusselt film theory. Only a small number of publications exist, where […]
Existing capillary tube models rely heavily on friction factor correlations, which enable the specification of the relative surface roughness. However, measuring the surface roughnesses of capillary tubes is a time consuming task, which requires specialized equipment. In this research we have developed a friction factor correlation, which does not […]
Due to coronavirus epidemic, MRS ( Material Research Society ) Spring Meeting was again held virtually. Together with the research group from Twente Univeristy we presented thermal rectification with multilayer phase change materials: High Asymmetric Heat Transport in Multilayer Phase Change Materials. Apart from the lack of personal contact, pastries […]
An extensive review of thermal management with fluidic and mechanical thermal control devices has been published in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Twente (Dr. Miguel Muñoz Rojo and Timm Swoboda). A review article published in the journal Advanced electronic materials (published by Wiley) presents the second of two […]
An extensive review of thermal management with thermal control devices based on solid-state physics phenomena has been published in collaboration with colleagues from the Universities of Twente (Dr. Miguel Muñoz Rojo and Timm Swoboda) and Stanford (Dr. Ananth Saran Yalamarthy). A review article published in the journal Advanced electronic materials […]
The new coronavirus epidemic has caused most conferences to be canceled or postponed. The MRS ( Material Research Society ) usually organizes two researcher meetings a year – in the spring and in the fall. This year, both meetings were held in virtual form via a special platform at the […]
Low temperature district heating systems represent an important share of the future heating supply. Such systems utilize waste heat from different systems and the heat from renewable sources. Furthermore, they show a potential to be implemented as a link between various energy sectors. The low temperature level of the district […]
Within the ERC project SUPERCOOL and ARRS project J2-1738 we have developed a new, unique numerical model that serves as a tool for parametric analysis and the development of micro-cooling systems for cooling of electronic components based on electrocaloric and elastocaloric materials. An article entitled: Caloric micro-cooling: Numerical modeling and […]
The article was published in the Journal of Applied Physics and is available here.Thermal control elements, i.e., thermal diodes, switches, and regulators, can control the heat flow in an analogous way in how electronic devices control electrical currents. In particular, a thermal diode allows a larger heat flux in one […]
The latest research results of the ERC SUPERCOOL project were published in the paper Thin-walled Ni-Ti tubes under compression: ideal candidates for efficient and fatigue-resistant elastocaloric cooling in highly ranked journal Applied Matrials Today (IF 8.013). The paper is available here. Elastocaloric cooling is emerging as one of the most promising […]
The latest research results of the ERC SUPERCOOL project were published in the chapter A Shell Finite Element Model for Superelasticity of Shape Memory Alloys of the book entitled Analysis of Shells, Plates, and Beams. The chapter is available here.
Recently published paper in International Journal of Refrigeration reports on flow visualization of the refrigerant R600a through a capillary tube (link). (Open access link (50 days)) Abstract: This paper presents the results of an experimental study of the flow visualization of the refrigerant R600a through a capillary tube with […]
The article: Numerical and experimental investigation of the energy and exergy performance of solar thermal, photovoltaic and photovoltaic-thermal modules based on roll-bond heat exchangers has been published in Energy Conversion and Management journal (IF = 7.181, 2019, top 5%). Link to the article*: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1akEjin8VZz4e. Abstract: This paper presents […]
Along with environmentally-friendly refrigerants, high energy efficiency of refrigeration systems and heat pumping will represent the foundation of future refrigeration, heating and air-conditioning systems. Recuperation and utilization of waste heat at various temperature levels will enable significantly lower energy consumption not only for heating and refrigeration, but also for generation […]
On the international Conference on caloric cooling, which will be held in June 2020 in Maryland USA, prof. dr. Andrej Kitanovski (magnetoaloric cooling) and assist. prof. dr. Jaka Tušek (elastocaloric cooling – ERC project SUPERCOOL) will present their work in two pelnary lectures: Kitanovski: The Future of the Magnetocaloric […]
In the extensive Encyclopedia of Smart Materials (Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering) a paper on Applications on magnetocaloric materials was published. The paper is available here. Abstract: The first market applications of magnetocaloric materials were in low-temperature physics and magnetic resonance imaging. These important applications, however, represent […]
Probably the most comprehensive overview of elastocaloric technology to date was just published in a special issue of Strojniški vestnik – Journal of Mechanical Engineering devoted to the 100th anniversary of Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana. The article puts an emphasis on the direction of future development of […]
Demonstration cooling device based on electrocaloric effectThe collaborators of the Laboratory for Refrigeration and District Energy of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana and the departments of Electronic Ceramics and Condensed Matter Physics of the Jozef Stefan Institute were among the first in the world to […]
The review paper Thermal control elements for caloric energy conversion was published in Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews. The paper is has open access until January 3rd 2020 (link). Abstract: Caloric energy conversion is an emerging field of cooling, heat-pumping and power-generation technologies. The potentially high energy efficiency and use […]
In the year we are celebrating the centenary of the University of Ljubljana, we are also celebrating the centenary of mechanical engineering, which a special and admirable event. Namely, the University of Ljubljana was founded on 23rd July 1919 by a special bill; while 19th May 1919 saw the beginning […]
The 2019 E-MRS Fall Meeting was held in Warsaw University of Technology, from September 16th to 19th. There were more than 1000 participants from all over the world. The members of LAHDE presented our work in two contributions and invited lecture: Urban Tomc: Digital microfluidics in caloric cooling Using the […]
The paper Electrocaloric refrigeration: Thermodynamics, state of the art and future perspectives (M. Ozbolt, A. Kitanovski, J. Tusek, A Poredos) was awarded by International Journal of Refrigeration for a Very Commended Paper. The paper is available here.
From August 24-30, 2019, Montreal (Canada), the birthplace of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, hosted the 25th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration –ICR 2019. Covering all fields of refrigeration, ICR 2019 surpassed the success of previous congresses and was a unique opportunity for researchers and engineers from all over the world […]
In the middle of May international scientific conference on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technology (SMST) 2019 took place at The Bodenseeforum in Konstanz, Germany. This is the leading worldwide conference and exposition for the shape memory and superelastic technologies and is highly focused on the manufacturing and application of shape […]
The paper Exergy analyses of low-temperature district heating systems with different sanitary hot-water boosters was published in Entropy Journal. Abstract: This paper presents an exergy-efficiency analysis of low-temperature district heating systems (DHSs) with different sanitary hot-water (SHW) boosters. The main objective of this study was to compare the exergy efficiencies […]
The research article co-authored by members of LAHDE laboratory entitled Neural network, ARX, and extreme learning machine models for the short-term prediction of temperature in buildings was published in Building Systems and Components journal in April 2019. Abstract In this paper, the possibilities of developing machine learning based data-driven […]
Do you want to leave a footprint in one of today’s most important research area of thermal engineering? You are offered a PhD position in the research group of prof. Andrej Kitanovski. About the topic The latest research activities in the field of the heat transfer regard the phenomena […]
The international Interclima conference is dedicated to research in the field of technical thermodynamics and to the energy efficiency improvements in thermal energy systems, primarily in the buildings and industry, in the context of the regulations subjected to the implementation of EU Directives in national legislation. Prof. Kitanovski held the […]
The International Conference of SZE (Slovenian Energy Association) took place in the beginning of April in Porotož. It hosted more than 200 attendees, who presented 47 contributions in sustainable and clean energy supply for heating and cooling. The LAHDE presented: Comparative techno-economic analysis of using gas engine-driven heat pumps in […]
In december 2018 we attended the Nanoscale and Microscale Heat Transfer conference in Levi, Finland. The Book of Abstracts is available here.
The article was publishe in the International Journal of Refrigeration (link) Abstrakt This paper reports on the research and development of a cooling device with an active electrocaloric regenerator (AER) based on the bulk ceramic material (1-x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–xPbTiO3 (PMN-100xPT). For the purposes of the study a 2D transient numerical model of […]
The article was published in Applied Energy Journal (link) Abstract This article reports on the novel resistive electromagnetic field source with the magnetic energy recovery, which enables the use of the static magnetocaloric regenerator. Most of the existing prototype magnetocaloric devices that operate near room temperature, use magnetic field sources […]
In September 2108 we attended the International Conference on Caloric Cooling in Darmstadt. Our contributions were in the field of magnetocalorics and elastocalorics: Rare-earth-free magnetic field source (invited talk), Magnetocaloric wine cooler with rare-earth-free magnet assembly, Challenges in designing elastocaloric regenerators. [metaslider id=573]