College of Engineering and Built Environment
PhD Scholarship 2015 Project
Lead supervisor name &
contact details:
Name: Dr. Mick Mc Keever
Tel; 01 402 4941
Email: Mick.McKeever@dit.ie
Research Centre / Institute
Name and Website (if
applicable)
Dublin Energy Lab
Scholarship Details
The stipend is €10,000 per annum. The cost of EU academic
fee will be covered for the duration of the scholarship. NonEU applicants are eligible to take up the scholarships, but
they will be required to fund the fee differential. Schools will
make available a desk space, PC along with a modest bursary
for travel, conferences and some limited materials.
Subject Area
Thermal energy storage and optical sensing.
Title of the Project
Design of a multi-parameter optical sensing device for use in
commercial scale phase change material based thermal energy
storage applications.
http://www.dit.ie/dublinenergylab/
Project Abstract (max 300 words)
Dublin Energy Lab (DEL) have developed a patented 500 litre bulk Phase Change Material
(PCM) Thermal Energy Store (TES) which holds 6-times as much heat as a 500 litre water tank.
The PCM-TES captures heat when the PCM melts and releases this heat when solidifying. The
PCM-TES can be used with over 20 PCM types in the range -20°C to 200°C.
The objective of this project is to investigate techniques to measure energy storage in bulk PCM
using optical sensing. The project is a joint collaboration between DEL and the National
Photonics Centre (NPC) in DIT. PCM suppliers provide energy-temperature curves by tested
10mg of PCM. PCM material expansion, material pressures, internal temperature differentials,
and visible lattice structure changes are not considered significant. In bulk PCM applications
these properties become significant. Solidification can occur below the expected temperature
called under-cooling. This is significant for PCM-TES applications as temperature is used to infer
energy. A multi-point optical measurement device will be investigated to measure PCM
temperature, pressure, density and transparency distribution in bulk PCM. In this DEL-NPC
collaboration project, suitable optical and electronic technique will be researched to
dynamically calculate energy storage levels in a PCM-TES for a range of PCM materials used in
building heating and cooling thermal storage applications.
Please indicate the student requirements for this project
Minimum 2.1 Hons. Degree in Electronic/Electrical Engineering
Or/ Minmum 2.1 Hons. Degree in Mechanical Engineering
Or/ Minimum 2.1 Hons. Degree in Chemical Engineering
Deadline to submit
applications (only for funded
projects)
31st October 2015