Conjugate heat transfer in compressible high-temperature flow passages
CHT modelling where pressure loss, acceleration, wall conduction and external or adjacent thermal pathways must be interpreted together.
Research statement
Rocket cooling-channel heat transfer, surface condition and measurable degradation.
My thesis work at Siemens Energy Finspång exposed me to the core challenge of translating CFD/CHT simulation evidence into actionable test-rig decisions under high-temperature conditions with limited experimental access. The root cause analysis of the heater failure in the Pulsatorn campaign reinforced that the most difficult problems in thermal-fluid engineering sit at the boundary between simulation assumptions and physical hardware behaviour. My research interest is in the prediction, detection and interpretation of thermally driven degradation mechanisms in high-temperature flow systems, particularly where deposit formation or surface condition changes alter heat transfer in ways that are not captured by steady-state models. I am especially motivated by rocket propulsion cooling-channel problems where experiments, modelling and monitoring indicators must work together to support reusable hardware.
Connection to rocket cooling-channel research
Same class of problem: surface condition controls high-temperature heat transfer.
Rocket nozzle cooling-channel research around methane/oxygen engines involves catalytic pyrolysis, coke deposition on channel walls and the resulting reduction in heat transfer. My Siemens thesis dealt with conjugate heat transfer in a high-temperature reducer where wall thermal resistance, external convective area and boundary-condition choices dominated the interpretation of thermal delivery. In both problems, the central scientific question is not only how the flow moves through a passage, but how the solid surface condition changes the effective thermal resistance seen by the fluid and hardware.
In the Pulsatorn reducer, Bi = 0.003-0.004 showed that through-wall gradients were negligible relative to the fluid-side and external convective pathways; the redesigned reducer's apparent thermal penalty came from exposed surface area rather than inferior internal heat transfer. In a methane-cooled rocket channel, deposit formation creates a different but related surface-condition effect: coke changes roughness, conduction path and wall heat flux distribution. The research bridge is therefore clear to me: decompose thermal resistance, identify which surface or boundary mechanism is dominant, and design measurements that can distinguish model assumptions from hardware behaviour.
Research interests
Specific questions I want to work on.
Thermal resistance decomposition
Separating bulk-flow, conduction, external convection and surface-condition effects so a thermal result can be traced to a physical mechanism.
Experimental validation under high-temperature conditions
Measurement-chain design, thermocouple and pressure-sensor selection, uncertainty tracking and commissioning logic for rig-scale validation.
Predictive maintenance and health monitoring indicators
Indicators for thermally loaded hardware derived from coupled simulation and measurement data rather than from isolated threshold rules.
Deposit formation and heat-transfer consequences
Catalytic pyrolysis context: coke deposition, wall surface changes, heat-transfer degradation and the model structures needed to detect them.
Numerical methods for thermal-fluid systems
Finite volume approaches, near-wall treatment, turbulence model sensitivity, mesh independence and residual/KPI convergence discipline.
Academic formation
How the research approach was formed.
Siemens Energy thesis: TRITA-ITM-EX 2026:14
Built a steady-state compressible CFD/CHT methodology for a high-temperature dynamic pressure sensor calibration rig, including three-level mesh independence, k-omega SST modelling, Biot number interpretation, thermal trade-off analysis and validation-oriented documentation.
Experimental and RCA work
Commissioned measurement channels, modified acquisition logic and contributed to formal root cause analysis after heater failure. This experience shaped my interest in how model assumptions fail or survive contact with real hardware.
MJ2515 Numerical Heat Transfer in Energy Technology
Strengthened the finite-volume and heat-transfer foundation behind CHT modelling, boundary-condition interpretation and numerical evidence quality.
MJ2510 Methods of Research in Sustainable Energy
Provided the research-method framing for moving from engineering tasks to defensible questions, limitations, validation logic and future-work formulation.
KTH pyrolysis internship
Introduced reactor concepts, degradation pathways and the practical difficulty of connecting chemical conversion behaviour to engineering system design.