Tuesday, April 10, 2018
6 p.m.

Old World Deli

Unlike the solar photovoltaic panels you might see on rooftops, roadsides, and around campus, solar thermal technology harnesses heat from the sun to produce electricity. A key advantage is that thermal energy can be stored cheaply and at utility scale, enabling 24-hour power production from renewable solar energy.

A team of researchers at Oregon State have been working on highly efficient, microchannel solar thermal receivers to reduce cost and support next-generation solar thermal power plants. In this talk, we will introduce how solar thermal power generation works, what Oregon State is doing to advance solar thermal power, and what the future looks like for this renewable technology.

For event questions or accommodation requests, please contact Shelly Signs, (541) 737-0724 or shelly.signs@oregonstate.edu. 

Dr. Brian Fronk joined the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering as an assistant professor in fall 2014. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his B.S. from the Pennsylvania State University. His research interests include solar thermal power generation and chemical processing, building energy systems, application of advanced manufacturing to novel heat and mass transfer devices, and the experimental investigation of multiphase and supercritical heat transfer. He is the co-author of Condensation Heat Transfer, part of the World Scientific Press Reference on Two-Phase Flow and Heat Transfer series. He has held a prior position at Carrier Corp., where he worked in the areas of CO2 compression and transport refrigeration. He is the recipient of the 2017 ASHRAE New Investigator Award and the 2017 Oregon State University International Service Award.