2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
A molecular approach to optimisation of liquid coolants
| Project/Area Number |
18K03983
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| Research Institution | Kyushu University |
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Principal Investigator |
Cannon James 九州大学, 工学研究院, 准教授 (80648866)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
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| Keywords | alcohol / simulation / molecular dynamics / coolant |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
During this year of the project the research has continued to focus on the development of the methodology to evaluate thermophysical transport properties. The focus this year in particular has turned towards thermal conductivity; a key quantity in the development of liquid coolants. It has become clear that understanding the atomic-level nature of thermal transport is important, and therefore in that regard there has been progress in deriving new methods to gain unprecedented detail of understanding of the atomic-level mechanisms of thermal transport. A new method has been developed to understand this in detail, so that this can contribute to an understanding about how alteration of molecular structure can lead to changes in thermal conductivity. These results have been presented at an international conference.
In line with overall plans for the research, following initial development with simple linear alcohols the method has been applied to non-linear alcohols too, in an effort to increase the complexity of molecules to which this technique can be applied. A challenge has been the large computational cost associated with more complex molecules, although these have been mitigated to a large extent through use of supercomputing time at Kyushu University.
Overall, these findings have given important insights into the nature of thermal conductivity on the molecular scale and the technique derived should be useful to a wide range of situations.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The research is judged to be progressing smoothly. Development of the novel technique for elucidation of thermal conductivity has been challenging, both conceptually and computationally, however the resulting software developed and technique developed promise to be a useful tool that can be applied in a wide range of situations related to the understanding of thermophysical properties of coolants via simulation.
Ongoing work to reduce the necessity of human input during the calculations has proved to be more time-consuming than expected, and as a result the focus has shifted to automating the analysis stage. As a consequence, while it has been harder than expected to realise automated calculation cycle on the simulation phase, the post-processing analysis is now very quick, enabling rapid analysis of simulation data.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The results this year have given interesting insight into thermophysical properties of liquids and have enabled the development of some useful techniques for their evaluation. Of all the thermophysical properties that exist, thermal conductivity is one of the hardest to change and control to achieve engineering goals, whether that be in the context of the coolant aims of this project or other aims in general. As a consequence, the final year of the research will continue to focus on thermal conductivity, in order to better understand how this can be controlled. Furthermore, in line with original goals, statistical analysis will be incorporated in order to make clear the relationships between different parameters that enter into the relationship between thermal conductivity and the environment in which these liquids exist.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The actual required funds for travel was slightly lower than expected resulting in a surplus of funds. Furthermore, the utilisation of professional programming support was utilised less than expected, resulting in the surplus observed.
In the following year it is expected that the results of the research will be presented at domestic and international conferences, and as a consequence these funds will be able to be used appropriately the following year.
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