Lawrence Livermore researchers are pioneering the development of in silico design tools to automatically generate optimally performing engineered architectures and systems for energy applications.
Breakthroughs in materials synthesis and processing, including additive/advanced manufacturing, hierarchical microstructures, and self-assembly techniques, have allowed for unprecedented control over the spatial arrangement of matter across length-scales. These advances have drastically expanded the possible design space of modern energy systems. Taking full advantage of this newfound complexity requires a new generation of analysis and design capabilities.
We work to develop multiscale physical models and large-scale continuum simulations of fluid, thermal, electrochemical, and reactor systems, and couple them with topology and shape optimization algorithms to create computational tools that generate novel, manufacturable, high-performance structures. Recent applications include electrolyzers, porous electric double layer capacitors, heat exchangers, Fischer-Tropsch reactors, aqueous flow batteries, flow fields, and fluid manifolds.
