Companies

The knowledge and structures of ThermALab and the whole TS&E Group are available for companies for consulting on specific issues or for broad spectrum research and development projects. Complex projects that require a highly varied multidisciplinary approach can be developed with a combined effort by several research groups or Departments of the Politecnico di Milano.

The ThermALab is also open to bring its knowledge into innovative joint research projects with cluster of companies and institutional partners.

We invite the companies to contact us to ask any question, share technical issues, or just to meet us and see our laboratory.

Our areas of expertise include:

  • Numerical and experimental heat and mass transfer analysis
  • Computational Thermo-Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Ray Tracing and radiative heat transfer simulations
  • High resolution and acquisition rate thermographic analysis
  • Optical proprieties characterization with UV-Vis-NIR and FT-IR spectrophotometry

Every study is based on an in-depth bibliographic research.

Past and current projects:

SNAM Rete Gas (SNAM S.p.A.)

2009: Validation of the simulations made by SNAM Rete Gas to calculate the gas flow capability at the entry point in Tarvisio, from year 2001 to 2009

2010: Analysis of the complete methodology adopted by SNAM Rete Gas to determine the gas flow capability of the pipe network. In particular, the analysis focused on:
models and calculation methodologies implemented in SRG proprietary simulation software
adopted hypotheses to determine the boundary conditions
the range of operative conditions in which the simulation results are acceptable

ENEL S.p.A.

2011: Analysis of Fresnel concentrated solar collector plants *
Optical-geometric modeling of the hourly solar radiation on the absorber, varying mirrors configuration and geographical localization of the plant.
Estimation of thermal heat fluxes in the absorber, taking into account thermal losses on the solar concentrator and on the absorber, with a Finite Element Method model.
Determination of the effective trend of the thermo-vector fluid temperature along the whole piping with a FEM model. The fluid is either molten salts or water/vapor: in this case the quality is also determined.

* This work is part of a joint project with the GECOS group of the Energy Department and with the Manufacturing and Production System section of the Mechanical Engineering Department

Pensotti FCL S.p.A.

2011-13: Development of a software to simulate and verify natural circulation phenomena in steam generators

2011-12: Rationalization and optimization of the steam generators design procedures

2013-15: Development of a software for the assisted design of three typologies of steam generators, i.e. Fired Boiler (FB), Waste to Energy (WTE) and Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG)

Alstom Power Italia S.p.A.

2012: Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation of the flow and of the ammonia injection and mixing in a Selective Calalytic Reduction (SCR) plant

Whirlpool Europe S.R.L.

2012: Multiphisics models and simulations supporting the description of processes and phenomena that occur in a kitchen oven
Multiphisics FEM modeling of energy and mass transfer between heat sources, food and structural parts and between the oven and the ambient (energy losses)
CFD modeling of air flux inside ovens with forced ventilation
Typical test-case runs of our model
Experimental temperature measurements on ovens in various operating conditions.

2012: Analysis and optimization of the usage of radiative heat sources for cooking processes
Theoretic and bibliographic research of the spectral characteristics of the radiative sources and of the absorption spectrum of oven materials.
Experimental characterization of the sources emission spectrum in the 300-5000 nm range
Experimental characterization of the absorption spectrum of different materials, before and after artificial aging, in the UV-Vis-NIR spectrum by means of spectrophotometry.

2013-14: Analysis of the food superficial browning process by means of lamps in microwave ovens
Numerical study of radiancy distribution with various reflector configurations
Concept and tests of alternative configurations

BTicino S.p.A.

2013-14: FEM thermal models of three winding transformers

Parà S.p.A.

2014-15: Determination of solar and visual comfort of fabrics for sun protection
Spectrophotometric measurements according to UNI EN 14500
Determination of visual and solar characteristics according to UNI EN 410 and UNI EN 14501
Calculation of solar factors according to UNI EN 13363-1 and UNI EN 13363-2

Intercos S.p.A.

2015: Light scattering analysis of cosmetic powders

Eurotubi S.r.l.

2015: Measurement of the spectral emissivity of radiant tubes in the Vis-NIR-MIR wavelength range