Jamal Yagoobi’s Innovative Drying Technologies are in the News
By Victoria Birk Hill February 16, 2024
George F. Fuller Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and director of the Center for Advanced Research in Drying, Jamal Yagoobi, and his work, are much in the news. His expertise in “heat” – the theoretical, numerical, and experimental study of heat transfer and mass transport enhancement – has helped keep electronic equipment from overheating in space; and streamlined processes in the energy-hogging, drying process of manufacturers for products such as food, paper, and chemicals.
As a result, Yagoobi’s innovative technologies can be found in places as exciting as the International Space Station, or as ordinary as a snack food manufacturing plant.
“Although these two areas may seem to be very different, they’re based on a common technical platform,” he says. “Drying deals with the heat and mass transfer in moist porous media while the cooling of electronics is concerned with liquid/vapor phase change in the presence and absence of gravity.”
In addition to being technically complex, Yagoobi’s research considers heat transfer at a large scale. “Picture a football field–sized oven that dries or bakes dough that will eventually be snacks, or pulp that will end up as packaging,” he says. “This is the scale of industrial drying. The processes that companies use are mostly decades old and the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that almost half of this energy use is wasted. Industry needs new technologies.”
To learn more about how Yagoobi’s passion for drying innovations are making headlines, both in space and here on earth, click here.
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