Research Report 2015 Zurich Universities of Applied Sciences and Arts www.zhaw.ch/engineering Research & Development Simulated intensity of scattered light above a rough Zinc Ox- ide surface used for optimizing solar cells. The lateral size is 4.5 um and the wavelength is 600 nm. Simulierte Lichtintensität gestreut durch eine raue Zinkoxid Oberfläche für die Optimierung von Solarzellen. Die Kanten- länge ist 4.5 um und die Wellenlänge ist 600 nm. Contents Preface 3 Vorwort 4 Projects 5 1.1 Komfortables Reisen durch Erfassung, Analyse und Postprocessing von 3D Daten zur Gleisvermessung....................................5 1.2 Mathe schützt den Menschen in der Masse.......................6 1.3 Liquid water modeling in PEMFC porous layers.....................7 1.4 Multi-phase modelling of a hydrogen generator.....................8 1.5 Electrical losses in hematite during photoelectrolysis..................9 1.6 Development and optimization of patterned porous materials for thermo-neutral fuel cells............................................. 10 1.7 Towards the detailed understanding of coffee brewing................. 11 1.8 Improved cooling processes for chocolate production.................. 12 1.9 Ohmic resistance of nickel infiltrated chromium oxide scales in solid oxide fuel cell metallic interconnects................................... 13 1.10 New generation of high-performance air heaters.................... 14 1.11 Numerical Simulation of Stacked OLEDs and Solar Cells................ 15 1.12 LED-based sun simulator for solar cell characterization................. 16 1.13 Impact of sand content on solute diffusion in Opalinus Clay.............. 17 1.14 Fast transient simulation of semiconductor devices................... 18 1.15 CARDYN - Charge carrier dynamics in organic electronic devices........... 19 1.16 Fluxim Research and Development Support....................... 20 1.17 Electrical interconnections in solar cells and modules.................. 21 1.18 Rigorous simulation of light scattering.......................... 22 1.19 Simulation of heat transfer processes within a fuel cell system based on OpenFoam 23 1.20 Tentative modelling of the failure in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell................ 24 1.21 A model-based optimization of cooling tunnel processes................ 25 1.22 Simulation Software for DSSC Modules......................... 26 1.23 Coulometric system with generator cell.......................... 27 1.24 Euler-Lagrangian model of particle laden flows and deposition effects in powder coating........................................... 28 1.25 Simulation von Heizelementen für Heissluftgebläse................... 29 1 Institute of Computational Physics Research Report 2015 1.26 Optimierung von porösen Diaphragmen Modell- und simulationsunterstützte Mate- rialentwicklung....................................... 30 1.27 Simulation des Nano-Dosierverhaltens von nicht-Newtonschen Flüssigkeiten.... 31 1.28 Nondestructive Quality and Process Control of Thermal Spray Coatings....... 32 1.29 Pulverbeschichten mit Closed-Loop Regelung...................... 33 1.30 Qualitätssicherung von Haftvermittlerschichtdicken in der Produktion von Drehschwing- ungsdämpfern....................................... 34 1.31 Entwicklung eines Messgeräts für die praktische Anwendung der Thermischen Schicht- prüfung an Kunst und Kulturgut.............................. 35 1.32 Blaues Licht aus neuen Materialien............................ 36 1.33 Herstellung von Perowskit-Solarzellen.......................... 37 1.34 Modellbasierter Reglerentwurf für die Temperaturregelung eines Kryostaten..... 38 Appendix 39 A.1 Student Projects...................................... 39 A.2 Scientific Publications................................... 41 A.3 Book Chapters....................................... 43 A.4 News Articles........................................ 43 A.5 Conferences and Workshops............................... 43 A.6 Public Events........................................ 47 A.7 Patents........................................... 47 A.8 Prizes and Awards..................................... 47 A.9 Teaching.......................................... 47 A.10 Spin-off Companies.................................... 50 A.11 ICP-Team.......................................... 51 A.12 Location........................................... 52 www.zhaw.ch2 Zürcher Fachhochschule Research Report 2015 Institute of Computational Physics Preface In a February 2015 e-mail, Beat Ruhstaller included a postscript: By the way, we are looking for the successor to my successor. In saying so, he wanted to draw my attention to the ICP’s recent announcement of a competition for their head position. At the time, I considered myself lucky to be the managing director of the company Vela Solaris and I had certainly not been looking for a new job. Beat and I had been close friends for a long time, thus giving me the opportunity to get to know the ICP. Like déjà-vu, Beat’s suggestion came as an incredibly tempting second chance: 12 years before, Beat had spoken to me about Fluxim, asking if I wanted to play an active role in establishing and organising the company with him. Though I declined his offer at the time, I felt a slight pang of regret shortly thereafter. In those days I had two options: the organic LED at the University of Applied Sciences in Win- terthur, or a similar research opportunity at the Institute for Solar Technology SPF in Rapperswil. Both offered the potential for subsequent spin-off projects, and a simulation algorithm had twice been at the core of innovation. Thanks to my former expertise in the optoelectronic-modeling field, I felt more confident with Beat’s field; nevertheless, I brought myself to finally take a slightly bigger step into the solar energy field. I was certain that renewable energy sources would have become an important issue and that designing physics-based simulation software would have contributed to the greater success of solar systems. Thus, at the end of 2006 I co-founded the company Vela Solaris in Rapperswil with the team of the long-standing college project called Polysun. We were lucky with our timing, as we entered the market in a prime position for the energy revolution to come. Instead of marketing our engineering services, we decided to sell our software licenses internationally. Today, Vela Solaris is a stable company whose simulation software Polysun is well- positioned in the market, acting as a planning tool for several tens of thousands of active users. During the course of the company’s history, its innovative projects have been of fundamental im- portance, helping the software against rival products. And so, since October 2015 I have been the Head of the ICP. We found a qualified replacement for the management of Vela Solaris. I granted the ICP my network and access to the Polysun source code. Some of Polysun’s innovative projects in recent years have been highly research- oriented and have had to be put on hold. These projects have now found their respective niches within the framework of the ICP’s multiphysics-modeling focus and the greater energy field from the School of Engineering (SoE). Talks with our hardware partners are already under way, but our vision is fortunately focused on the long term. As far as Bachelor’s theses are concerned, we have already tackled various topics. Moreover, ICP has a tradition of proffering ambitious projects and supporting students through various spin-off companies, thereby giving them the opportunity to perform excellently within a short working period. Interestingly, these research projects have been accompanied by new synergies in teaching projects, built upon my previous work experience: for years now, Vela Solaris has offered continuing education and has become involved in vocational education and in working with technical colleges. I can directly implement the results of such ex- periences to the ZHAW teaching. Thanks to computer simulation, a common feature throughout my career, I feel like my current position at ICP is exactly the right one. I find the diversity of the work fields really stimulating. In my opinion, spearheading the core of these applications within the framework of modeling and numerics is an important communication task. Alongside the simula- tion experience, its practical applications are also crucial: valuable contributions to different areas have only been achieved thanks to good industrial partners. Finally, and importantly, innovation capacity sometimes rests on thinking out of the box and bringing together different branches of knowledge. I would like to sincerely thank Beat for thinking of me one year ago. That one line in his e-mail back then was a perfect example of spontaneously thinking out of the box. Thanks also to the ICP team for their warm welcome and sound support during my period of vocational adjustment. Congratulations on your achievements and their presentation in this annual report ! Andreas Witzig, February 2016 Zürcher Fachhochschule3 www.zhaw.ch Institute of Computational Physics Research Report 2015 Vorwort Im Februar 2015 hatte Beat Ruhstaller im PS einer E-Mail geschrieben, Übrigens, wir suchen den Nachfolger meines Nachfolgers, und machte mich damit auf die Ausschreibung der ICP- Institutsleiterposition aufmerksam. Ich war damals als Geschäftsführer der Firma Vela Solaris glücklich mit meinem Job und überhaupt nicht auf Stellensuche. Mit Beat verbindet mich eine langjährige Freundschaft und dadurch hatte ich auch das ICP bereits