Fields of research activity

The basic fields of research activity

The most important fields of research activity carried out at the Institute of Heat Engineering are:

refrigeration and air conditioning,
low-temperature technology,
low temperature plasma research,
plasma spraying of new ceramic coatings,
use of plasma for waste destruction research,
research of clean coal technologies,
research of fluidised bed boilers,
research of gas-steam systems,
development of modelling and simulation methods of boilers and turbines in the area of modified traffic conditions research,
development of modelling and simulation methods of transient states,
study of power systems structures,
urban and industrial energy management,
research in the field of nuclear engineering and nuclear safety,
study of flow meters and heat meters (quality certificates, etc.),
modernisation and reconstruction of small and medium power steam turbines,
study and modernisation of steam boilers, particularly fluidised bed,
simulators of power units and their elements,
advanced control and monitoring systems,
issues of reliability of operation of energy systems and reliability of power supply,
research in the field of centrifugal pumps,
research in the field of thermal power stations,
energy management (environmental protection, heating),
study of pumps,
study of small water turbines and pump-turbines,
opinions, expertise,
measurements of characteristics of large pumps in their installation location,
studies of combustion processes in internal combustion engines (new ignition and combustion systems, piston engine with variable compression ratio, alternative motor fuels (hydrogen, natural gas)),
studies of combustion and detonation (flame and detonation waves propagation, explosions in industrial machines, suppression of explosions, combustion chambers with constant volume, combustion in microgravity),
examination of combustion chambers and burners,
computer simulation of combustion and detonation processes (flows and combustions in piston, jet and rocket engines, detonation waves, flame propagation, modelling of combustion in burners and chambers),
measurements of thermal properties,
thermal energy storage,
numerical methods in heat transfer,
thermoelectric energy conversion: refrigeration and electricity generation,
research of heat transfer in complex media (porous media, insulations, composites),
research of heat transfer during phase transitions,
investigation of heat transfer in internal combustion engines,
study of the effects of laser shock on solids,
photothermal conversion of solar energy,
energy sources and conversion,
studies of heat exchange processes in extremely stressed turbine blades and elements of aircraft engines,
low temperature plasma physics.

On 15 May 1999, an agreement has been reached regarding the operation of the Integrated Heat Laboratory (Zintegrowanego Laboratorium Cieplnego (ZLC)) in the Institute of Heat Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, between the following entities:

Institute of Heat Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw,
Energy Institute, Warsaw,
Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Warsaw,
Institute of Aviation, Warsaw,
Central Mining Institute, Katowice.

ZLC is dedicated to conducting the following research:

research of transient states of hydrogen turbine;
study of industrial dust explosions dynamics and suppression methods;
study of controlled combustion in engines and burners;
improvement of low emission coal burning methods in power generation boilers;
study of new multicriteria control methods for power systems;
improvement of techniques of using low-temperature plasma to create thermal and erosion barriers as well as disposal of toxic waste;
studies of thermal properties of materials and their stability in phase transformation processes;
modelling and visualisation of phase transformation processes in binary systems and heterogeneous boiling processes;
investigation of low-temperature energy storage processes for refrigeration and air conditioning.