Reza Baghaei Lakeh

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at California State Polytechnic University

Thermal energy storage (TES) plays a crucial role in energy sustainability, enabling the efficient storage and utilization of thermal energy from various sources. In this paper, we propose a novel TES system that utilizes reclaimed minerals as the heat storage medium. The system comprises a tightly packed bed of processed minerals enclosing a circu...

Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, hold immense potential in transitioning towards a sustainable energy future. However, their intermittent nature poses challenges to grid stability. Energy storage solutions, particularly Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems, have emerged as a promising approach to address this issue and enhance the...

In this techno-economic analysis, a thermal energy storage system that repurposes desalination salt as a storage medium is investigated. The proposed system meets the Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative goal of $15/kWhth for thermal energy storage (TES). A sensitivity analysis was performed on significant cost factors to determine how to meet...

Membrane processes are used for water treatment techniques to desalinate seawater and surface water into potable water. The undesired byproduct of these processes is a high concentrate salt. In this project, the repurposed concentrate salt was studied as a storage medium for grid-scale Thermal Energy Storage (TES). The Department of Energy’s (DOE)...

Inorganic salts (e.g., chloride salts) have gained attention in the energy field as a new thermal energy storage medium. Low cost, high melting temperature and high heat capacity of inorganic salts make them attractive in utility-scale thermal storage applications as higher energy storage temperatures lead to higher efficiency in power generation....

In this paper, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is employed to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of Reverse Osmosis Concentrate (ROC) as an alternative, low-cost thermal energy storage medium. Thermal energy storage is a critical component for increasing efficiency and dispatchability of solar thermal and combined heat and power plant...

The reject of the reverse osmosis water treatment process (aka brine, concentrate, ROC) is a mixture of salts that are dissolved in high salinity water. The ROC is classified as an industrial waste by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and can face regulatory limitations on disposal. State-of-the-art of ROC disposal includes deep-well injecti...

Power overgeneration by renewable sources combined with less dispatchable conventional power plants introduces the power grid to a new challenge, i.e., instability. The stability of the power grid requires constant balance between generation and demand. A well-known solution to power overgeneration is grid-scale energy storage. Compressed air energ...

The decline of surface water sources along with periodic droughts has introduced new challenges for the state of California. In order to keep up with the increasing demand for water, the state is heavily relying on imported water from the north to Southern California as well as importing water from the Colorado River. The imported water has a large...

As the population grows, one issue that is continually being addressed is the lack of clean water resources. In order to explore viable solutions, rapid experimentation and research has been underway to alleviate the water crisis. With the addition of new emerging technology, the development, improvement, and understanding of various techniques use...

Power overgeneration by renewable sources combined with less dispatchabe conventional power plants introduce the power grid to a new challenge, i.e., instability. The stability of the power grid requires constant balance between generation and demand. A well-known solution to power overgeneration is grid-scale energy storage. Although different ene...

Thermal energy storage with elemental sulfur is a low-cost alternative to molten salts for many medium to high-temperature energy applications (200–600 °C). In this effort, by examining elemental sulfur stored isochorically inside isolated pipes, we find that sulfur provides attractive charge/discharge performance since it operates in the liquid-va...

In this study, turbulent natural convection heat transfer during the charge cycle of an isochoric vertically oriented thermal energy storage (TES) tube is studied computationally and analytically. The storage fluids considered in this study (supercritical CO2 and liquid toluene) cover a wide range of Rayleigh numbers. The volume of the storage tube...

Decentralized water treatment consists of a variety of water treatment techniques for dwellings, industrial facilities, homes, and businesses independent of the power grid. According to the United States Geological Survey, brackish groundwater is abundant in the southwestern states including California; hence it can potentially be considered a new...

The growth in renewable energy generation highlights a demand for an effective energy storage system for future power grid. Energy storage systems have a crucial role in balancing the power grid and compensating for intermittency of renewable energy sources. The state-of-the-art of grid-scale energy storage technologies (e.g., pumped-hydro and conv...

The share of renewable energy sources in the power grid is showing an increasing trend world-wide. Most of the renewable energy sources are intermittent and have generation peaks that do not correlate with peak demand. The stability of the power grid is highly dependent on the balance between power generation and demand. Compressed Air Energy Stora...

Efficient and cost-effective thermal energy storage system plays an important role in energy conservation. Elemental sulfur, the thirteenth most abundant element on earth, is actively being researched as a potential thermal storage medium due to its high energy storage density and low cost. The present work investigates the heat transfer behavior o...

Human activity is overloading our atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other global warming emissions. These emissions trap heat, increase the planet’s temperature, and create significant health, environmental, and climate issues. Electricity production accounts for more than one-third of U.S. global warming emissions, with the majority generated by...

Most of the renewable energy sources, including solar and wind suffer from significant intermittency due to day/night cycles and unpredictable weather patterns. On the other hand increasing share of renewable sources imposes additional stability risks on the power grid. Increased share of solar energy in power generation during noon along with incr...

The ability to efficiently and cost-effectively incorporate thermal energy storage (TES) systems is an important advantage of concentrating solar power (CSP) in comparison to other intermittent forms of renewable energy, such as wind or photovoltaics. As such, TES allows CSP plants to continue to provide electricity to the grid even at times when t...

This study outlines a methodology for modeling and optimizing multi-phase thermal energy storage systems for solar thermal power plant (STPP) operation by incorporating energy and exergy analyses to a TES system employing a storage medium that can undergo multi-phase operation during the charging and discharging period. First, a numerical model is...

Most of the renewable energy sources, including solar and wind suffer from significant intermittency due to day/night cycles and unpredictable weather patterns. Energy Storage systems are required to enable the renewable energy sources to continuously generate energy for the power grid. Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is one of the most promising form...

The goal of this research is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to numerically investigate the heat transfer associated with the waste heat released from using compost to assist the flow in a solar chimney. The novelty of the current research is the hybrid aspect of using a solar chimney in conjunction with compost waste heat to enhance the...

In this study, turbulent natural convection heat transfer during the charge cycle of a Thermal Energy Storage system was studied computationally and analytically. The storage fluids were supercritical CO2 and liquid toluene which are stored in vertical and sealed storage tubes. A computational model was developed and validated to study turbulent na...

In this work, energy and exergy analyses are applied to a thermal energy storage system employing a storage medium in the two-phase or supercritical regime. First, a numerical model is developed to investigate the transient thermodynamic and heat transfer characteristics of the storage system by coupling conservation of energy with an equation of s...

In this study, turbulent natural convection heat transfer during the charge cycle of a Thermal Energy Storage system was studied computationally and analytically. The storage fluids were supercritical CO2 and liquid toluene which are stored in vertical and sealed storage tubes. A computational model was developed and validated to study turbulent na...

A computational and experimental approach is undertaken to study the enhancement of convective heat transfer in fully-developed internal flows by an electrically-induced secondary flow field. Using longitudinal flat electrodes along a parallel-plate configuration, the corona discharge is employed to generate an electrically induced secondary flow o...

Efficient heat transfer to storage fluid is required for the desirable operation of thermal energy storage systems. Most of the fluid candidates for supercritical thermal storage have poor thermal conductivity; therefore, conduction does not provide sufficient heat transfer. The current study concerns a supercritical thermal energy storage system c...

The effect of turbulent natural convection in vertical storage tubes containing a supercritical fluid is investigated computationally. In a supercritical thermal storage system, thermal energy is transferred to the storage fluid and is stored as the internal energy of the fluid in supercritical state. The heat is conducted from the heat transfer fl...

The effective thermal energy density of R134a subjected to an isobaric or isochoric process is determined and evaluated in the two-phase and supercritical regimes. The results are qualitatively extended to other fluids via the principle of corresponding states. It is shown that substantial increases in volumetric energy density can be realized in t...

There exists a limited amount of data for thermal properties of supercritical fluids. Accurate measurement of these properties is needed to supply benchmark data to the scientific community and to establish promising candidates for supercritical fluids applications such as energy storage systems [1]. The transient hotwire method has been widely use...

Heat transfer to the storage fluid is a critical subject in thermal energy storage systems. The storage fluids that are proposed for supercritical thermal storage system are organic fluids that have poor thermal conductivity; therefore, pure conduction will not be an efficient heat transfer mechanism for the system. The current study concerns a sup...

A computational and experimental approach is conducted to enhance the convective heat transfer in fully developed laminar flow in parallel-plates configuration. Laminar internal flows are associated with unchanging Nusselt number along the channel due to the fully developed condition of the boundary layer. Inducing a swirling effect along the flow...

Natural convection heat transfer can be noticeably enhanced by corona wind in tubes and channels. A corona-induced secondary flow may be generated in tubes with no major changes in the geometry, or causing any noise or vibration. In this investigation, it is shown that the eccentric configuration of a wire electrode inside a tube forms a local jet...

Heat transfer in rectangular channels can be significantly enhanced by formation of secondary flows. Secondary flow fields appear within the channels and influence the boundary layer growth and improve the convective heat transfer. When a high potential is applied to two electrodes, the consequent high electric field in the gap between the electrod...

A high electric potential applied to a wire electrode at the centerline of a circular tube may cause gas ionization and corona discharge, leading to formation of secondary flows and a corona jet within the tube. A computational model was implemented to show that the corona jet appears only if the electrode is slightly off-center with respect to the...

A computational investigation is conducted to study the patterns of airflow induced by corona discharge in the cross section of a circular tube. The secondary flow induced by corona wind in various flow passages has been the subject of numerous investigations. The flow patterns are often identified by multiple recirculation bubbles. Such flow patte...

Corona discharge is widely known as an effective method for improving the characteristics of the flow field and enhancing heat transfer. Distribution of charge density and electric field form a Coulomb body force which acts on the charged particles within the fluid and generates a secondary flow field. The thermal enhancing effects of corona wind a...

Based on two different criteria, namely the engine working conditions and the driver's intention, the governing parameters in decision making for gear shifting of an automated manual transmission are discussed. The gear-shifting strategy was designed by taking into consideration the effects of these parameters, with the application of a fuzzy contr...