IfT / TU Braunschweig

About the Institute of Thermodynamics (IfT) of the Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig: We teach and conduct research on molecular thermodynamics, transport processes and interfaces as well as thermal energy systems. Bachelor's students in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering learn the fundamentals of thermodynamics with us.

In advanced courses, Master's students can deepen their knowledge of molecular systems, various transport processes, and the functioning of complex thermal energy systems. In a wide range of research projects, we investigate thermodynamic systems and processes in energy and process engineering on different scales — both experimentally and through simulation — and deepen our understanding of how complex thermal energy systems work. There are three research groups at IfT which are briefly introduced in the following: Group “Thermal Energy Systems”: The working group aims to design, understand, control, and optimize complex cyber-physical thermal energy systems so that they can be integrated into alternative vehicle concepts and the 'city of the future.

We are researching environmentally friendly systems such as battery-electric cars, fuel cell trucks, hydrogen storage and refueling systems, dryers, wastewater treatment plants, heat pumps, refrigeration systems and air conditioning systems. In this context, components such as batteries, fuel cells, compressors, heat exchangers, mass transfer devices, thermo-electric modules and ejectors are analyzed.

Novel control techniques are emerging. The natural refrigerant R744 is often in the focus of research. Modern system and CFD simulation methods as well as novel measurement techniques are used. The working group cooperates nationally and internationally with numerous research institutions and companies. Group “Transport Processes and Interfaces”: The main focus of the research group is on the thermodynamic characterization of complex substance systems in energy- and material-converting processes such as batteries, fuel cells, and heat pumps.

The vision is to develop a fundamental understanding of the material properties and, in particular, transport and interfacial properties in relevant working materials and energy carriers, across scales from the molecular or particulate level to modeling for process design. This involves the application and development of modern measurement and simulation methods for the accurate description of transport properties such as thermal conductivity and viscosity, as well as interfacial properties such as interfacial tension and wetting. Group “Molecular Thermodynamics”: The research of the group Molecular Thermodynamics is generally aimed at a systematic development of both simulation algorithms and molecular models to allow for efficient and reliable predictions of thermophysical properties by molecular simulations.

In the field of refrigeration, we provide information on new potential blends to enable their modelling by multiparameter Helmholtz equations of state (HEOS). By building dedicated Gaussian‐process surrogate models for mixture HEOS, we enable rapid calculation of thermodynamic properties in system simulations—e.g. for optimal working-fluid selection for specific applications.