Analysis, testing and material characterization services in the general area of energy systems.
The Laboratory for Alternative Energy Conversion (LAEC) seeks to understand and address both fundamental challenges and practical implementation issues related to waste-heat-driven sorption technologies. These include sorption heat pumps, dehumidification, atmospheric water generation, gas separation and CO2 capture systems.
The laboratory offers expertise in the research and development of materials and components for these systems, and conducts studies aimed at improving energy-conversion efficiency in devices such as compact heat exchangers and electronic cooling systems.
The research team strives to carry out cutting-edge research in collaboration with industrial partners and to deliver novel solutions for sustainable energy-conversion systems.
- Research and development for waste-heat driven sorption systems, including sorption heat pumps, dehumidification technologies, and CO2 capture processes.
- Study of microstructured composite materials, porous media and sorbents, including characterization of internal porous structure (e.g. porosity, pore size distribution, and water-vapour equilibrium.
- Thermophysical properties measurements: thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, specific heat capacity, and permeability.
- Heat sink and heat exchanger design and testing, including numerical simulation and modelling, pressure-drop measurements, and heat transfer performance evaluation.
- Study of transport phenomena in microchannels, green cooling solutions for power electronics, and transport properties of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell materials.
- Agriculture, animal science and food
- Automotive
- Clean technology
- Education
- Energy
- Environmental technologies and related services
- Manufacturing and processing
- Professional and technical services (including legal services, architecture, engineering)
- Utilities
Specialized labs and equipment
- Thermal properties and heat transfer: Analysis and measurement of thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, heat capacity, and thermal contact resistance
- Environmental and climate control: Environmental test chambers with controlled temperature and humidity
- Mechanical and surface characterization: Thermomechanical analysis, surface profilometry (roughness and out-of-flatness measurements).
- Flow visualization and convective transport: Velocity measurements and particle tracing, variable speed wind tunnel for characterization of convective transport parameters
- Gas sorption, porosity and diffusion: Determination of material porous nature (pore diameter, total pore volume, surface area, bulk and absolute densities); studies of gas and vapour soption dynamics; effective diffusion coefficient measurements in sub-millimeter materials, such as the gas diffusion, microporous, and catalyst layers of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells.
Private and public sector research partners
• City of Burnaby
• City of Surrey
• Institute for Sustainable Horticulture (Kwantlen Polytechnic University)
• Delta-Q Technologies
• Ballard Power Systems
• Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation (AFCC)
• Cool-It Hi-Way Services
• CrossChasm Technologies
• Saputo
• FVT Research
• Analytic Systems
• The Alpha Group
• Terrella Energy Systems Ltd.
• Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell
• CORE Energy Recovery Solutions
• Argus Control Systems
• New Flyer
• BW Global