Bottani DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN ENERGY

The doctoral program in Energy is intended to prepare students for research and professional practice in energy science and engineering, focusing on strategic technologies for efficient energy conversion and utilization which aim to meet the urgent challenge of a sustainable energy supply. The program, which emphasizes depth and originality of research, combines personal research activity in a chosen specialty with taught courses in the fundamental and engineering sciences that are basic to the energy field. The elective curriculum allows the student to establish the fundamental base from which to concentrate his or her study in an area of special interest. Theoretical, analytical, experimental, and computational aspects of the various fields are covered by the courses and research opportunities offered by the Energy Department. The technical areas spanned by the doctoral program are deeply rooted in the research activity of the Department and include the whole range of thermo-fluid-dynamic processes required to convert primary energy sources into useful forms of energy, as well as to the rational and environmentally friendly use of energy in stationary and mobile plants, either terrestrial or aerospace. This includes the study of clean combustion processes for a large variety of fuels, the selection of proper working fluids and the optimization of thermodynamic cycles to generate or cogenerate mechanical and electrical energy, heat, refrigeration, synthetic fuels, the study of reverse cycles for air conditioning and refrigeration, the design of components like steam, gas and hydraulic turbines, compressors, pumps, internal combustion engines, heat transfer equipment, etc. Equally important are all basic and applied aspects related to energy saving, the control of environmental quality and comfort (indoor and outdoor, including bio-climatic design and innovative envelope technologies), energy efficient products and components, intelligent integration of natural and artificial light, building automation systems, technological issues related to the exploitation of renewable energy sources, the environmental and economic impact of energy transformations. More recently, the Department addressed novel research themes such as integration of high temperature fuel cells with gas turbines, micro-cogeneration, the production and use of synthetic fuels, particularly hydrogen, carbon capture and sequestration techniques, energy recovery from municipal solid waste, geothermal heat pumps and power stations, advanced nuclear reactors. Besides the subjects of study involved, the doctoral program implements the following educational path: