Introduction
Welcome to my website. I am a Professor and Researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech (UPC), under the Serra-Húnter Program. I conduct my research at the Heat and Mass Transfer Technological Center (CTTC) at UPC - BarcelonaTech.
My research interests focus on computational transport phenomena, direct numerical simulation of gas-liquid multiphase flows, heat and mass transfer, bubbly flows, variable surface tension (thermocapillarity and surfactants), and phase change phenomena (evaporation, condensation, and boiling). I work with computational and numerical methodologies based on the finite-volume method, unstructured meshes, unstructured flux-limiters, Level-Set (LS) and coupled Volume-of-Fluid/LS methods, adaptive mesh refinement, and high-performance parallel computing (C++, MPI). My scientific motivation stems from the fundamental principles of transport phenomena and their industrial applications, such as unit operations in chemical engineering (distillation, absorption, flotation), chemical reactors, and energy engineering.
Néstor V. Balcázar-Arciniega holds a Ph.D. in Thermal Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) - BarcelonaTech, September 2014. Chemical Engineer from the Technical University of Loja, August 2004.
Positions:
Professor-Researcher (Serra-Húnter Excellence Program), UPC-BarcelonaTech, since February 2021
Research Associate, Newcastle University, United Kingdom, 2019-2020
Torres-Quevedo Postdoctoral Researcher, Spain, 2016-2019
Lecturer, National University of Distance Education (UNED), Spain, 2013-2018
Postdoctoral Researcher, UPC-BarcelonaTech, Spain, 2014-2016
Doctoral Researcher, UPC-BarcelonaTech, Spain, 2009-2014
Professor-Researcher, Technical University of Loja, Ecuador, 2004-2009
Computational transport phenomena
Gas-liquid multiphase flows
Unstructured conservative level-set method
Coupled volume of fluid and level-set method
Variable surface tension (thermocapillarity, surfactants)
Liquid-vapor phase change (evaporation, boiling, condensation)
Bubbly flows, bubbles, and droplets
Interfacial phenomena
Finite-volume method, unstructured meshes, unstructured flux-limiters
High-Performance Computing (C++, MPI)
Adaptive Mesh Refinement
Direct Numerical Simulation of multiphase flows
Publications and academic contribution
Author/co-author of over 45 scientific publications indexed by SCOPUS as of October 2024.
Author of 17 publications in Q1 JCR/SJR international journals, 5 in the first decile (JCR).
Over 25 publications in international conference proceedings (17 SCOPUS), over 20 presentations on world class international conferences.
10 book chapters indexed by SCOPUS.
H-index of 16, with 928 citations (Google Scholar) as of July 2024
Supervisor of 4 doctoral theses at the UPC-BarcelonaTech, all awarded with excellent cum-laude
Scientific coordinator and/or researcher of more than 20 supercomputing projects RES and 2 Tier-0 PRACE, researcher in 3 projects funded by the Spanish government.
Scientific referee, for more than 80 papers for prestigious international journals, e.g., International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Chemical Engineering Journal, Chemical Engineering Science, International Journal of Multiphase Flow, International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, Computers and Fluids, Journal of Computational Physics, and projects of the Petroleum Research Fund - American Chemical Society
UPC-BarcelonaTech (2021-present): Gas Dynamics & Heat and Mass Transfer, Heat Transfer, Thermal Engineering; Master's courses: Heat and Mass Transfer, Energy Alternatives, Advanced course on Heat and Mass Transfer, Thermal Equipment
UNED, Spain (2013-2018): Thermodynamics in mechanical engineering and electrical engineering programs
UTPL, Ecuador (2004-2009): Fluid mechanics, heat transfer, chemical reaction engineering, process control, chemical process design, unit operations, chemical process simulation, differential equations in chemical engineering program
KEYWORDS: transport phenomena, computational fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, mass transfer, phase-change, interfacial flows, surface tension, bubbles, droplets, bubbly flows, conservative level-set method, coupled VoF-LS method, multiple markers, unstructured meshes, finite-volume methods, adaptive-mesh-refinement
DNS of Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer in Gravity-Driven Bubbly Flow: This figure illustrates the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of hydrodynamics and mass transfer in gravity-driven bubbly flow, utilizing the multi-marker unstructured conservative level-set method. The numerical code (C++, MPI) is parallelized for execution on supercomputers such as MareNostrum IV and V (Barcelona, Spain).
Further Details:
Balcazar-Arciniega et al.(2024). Numerical study of the drag force, interfacial area and mass transfer in bubbles in a vertical pipe, Chemical Engineering Journal, Volume 495, 153-124.