SELGRA webinar #7

Post date: Mar 17, 2022

In the lecture, I will cover the basics behind a phenomenon of cavitation – evaporation due to the sudden drop in local pressure. It’s mainly considered as an undesired phenomenon, since, as the vaporous bubble collapses, it causes an emission of a shockwave which can cause noise, vibration and erosion. One of the most intriguing problems is the onset of cavitation in the turbopumps of rocket engines, where it limits their efficiency, reliability and reusability. I will discuss the recent progress in the understanding of this topic and the latest issues that the space industry is facing in this respect. Finally, I will discuss a shift in paradigm, where we tend to exploit the aggressiveness of cavitation to eradicate contaminants, such as bacteria and viruses, in water.

This webinar will be live on Zoom and requires registration. An invitation email to join the webinar will be sent out to all registrants. Book your spot for this webinar on this link.

About Prof. dr. Matevž Dular

Expertise

Fluid dynamics, cavitation, multiphase flow, turbomachinery, wastewater teatment

Short Biography

Prof. dr. Matevž Dular is one of the youngest full professors at the University of Ljubljana (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering). He has worked in Germany, France and the USA for more than five years. For seven years, he led two projects for the European Space Agency (ESA), where they developed methods for better understanding and prediction of the thermodynamic effects during pumping of fuel and oxidizer in rocket engines. In 2019, he received the Zois recognition for his scientific achievements and in 2020 he received the prestigious Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 2017, only as the fifth researcher in Slovenia, he obtained a project from the European Research Council (ERC), where he is researching the possibilities of environmentally friendly destruction of bacteria and viruses by cavitation. In 2022 he received the second ERC project, which finances proof of concept for wastewater sludge treatment by cavitation.