Professor Zhibin Yu
- Professor of Thermal Energy (Systems Power & Energy)
telephone:
01413302530
email:
Zhibin.Yu@glasgow.ac.uk
pronouns:
He/him/his
School of Engineering, Room 624, James Watt Building South
Biography
Prof. Yu is currently Professor of Thermal Energy at the James Watt School of Engineering. He joined the School in September 2012 as a Lecturer, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017, and then to full Professor in 2019. Prior to this, he worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Manchester (2006–2011) and the University of Leicester (2011–2012).
He received his BEng in Cryogenic and Refrigeration Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China) and his PhD in Thermal Engineering from Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Part of his PhD project was carried out at the Laboratoire d’Informatique pour la Mécanique et les Sciences de l’Ingénieur, CNRS, France.
He is a Fellow of Institution of Engineers in Scotland (IES), a Chartered Engineer (CEng), a Member of Institute of Refrigeration (IOR), and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). He is currently the Research Theme Champion for Heat Energy within the Energy Technology Partnership (ETP) of Scotland and the Net-Zero Challenge Champion of the James Watt School of Engineering.
Prof. Yu is the inventor of the Flexible Heat Pump Cycle (PCT reference number: WO2022069581A1), which enables the development of next generation of heat pumps with better energy efficiency and flexibility. See more details for collaboration.
His reserach has attracted wide media coverage. He has been interviewed and featured by perstigious science and technology magazines such as "Physics World" of the Institute of Physics and the "Knowable Magazine" of Annual Reviews. He has also been a guest on The Science Show of Jambo Radio to talk about heat pumps and more widely heat decarbonisation.
More media coverage can be found in the "Additional Information" section below.
Research interests
Prof. Yu's research is focused on thermal energy technologies and their fundamental thermodynamic, heat transfer, fluid-dynamic problems. He is particularly interested in developing novel technologies for sustainable heating, cooling, and power generation, including but not limited to the topics as follows:
- Heat pumps
- Refrigeration
- Energy storage
- District heating/cooling networks
- Organic Rankine Cycle power plants
- Multi-vector/integrated energy systems
- Energy system digital twin
Grants
Current Grants:
- Royal Society: Industrial Fellowship, Flexible Heat Pump Technology – from Concept to Applications, Total Value: £180,255, 01/10/2023 - 30/09/2027. Role: PI.
- EPSRC: Prosperity Partnership, ENSIGN: ENergy System dIGital twiN, Ref: EP/X025322/1, Total Value: £8.8M (EPSRC: £4.3M; Scottish Power Energy Networks: £4.5M), 01/06/2023 - 31/05/2027, Role: UoG PI (leader of the Heat Digital Twin workpackage: £971,414).
- EPSRC: Grid Scale Energy Storage Call, An Adsorption-Compression Cold Thermal Energy Storage System (ACCESS), Ref: EP/W027593/1, Total value: £1,022,621 (UofG: £507k), 09/01/2023-08/01/2025, Role: Overall project PI
- EPSRC: Decarbonisation of Heating and Cooling Call 2, Flexible Air Source Heat pump for domestic heating decarbonisation (FASHION), Ref: EP/V042033/1, Total value: £1,149,352 (UofG: £733k), 01/09/2021-31/08/2024, Role: Overall project PI
- EPSRC: Decarbonisation of Heating and Cooling Call 1, GREEN-ICEs: Generation of REfrigerated ENergy Integrated with Cold Energy storage, Ref: EP/T022701/1, Total value: £1,204,099 (UofG: £400k), 01/09/2020-31/08/2024, Role: PI at UofG
- ESPRC: Programme Grant, Decentralised water technologies. Ref: EP/V030515/1, Total value: £5,994,286, 01/03/2021-28/02/2026, Role: Co-I (Lead of the energy engineering WP with a budget of £606,409)
- EC: Collaborative development of renewable/thermally driven and storage-integrated cooling technologies (Ref: 01007976); Total value: €800K (UofG: €64K), 01/10/2021-31/08/2024, Role: PI at UofG
- Royal Academy of Engineering/Scottish Power, Industrial Fellowship, Value: £84,138. 20/09/2021-19/09/2023. Role: PI
- Energy Technology Partnership/Scottish Power: Mtigate the impacts of heat electrification, PhD studentship, Total Value: £102,000, Oct 2022 – March 2026. Role: PI
- Energy Technology Partnership/SSE: Reducing the performance gap of behind the meter renewale using digital twin technology, PhD studentship, Total Value: £102,000, May 2023 – April 2027. Role: PI
- Energy Technology Partnership/Scottish Power: Modelling of 5th Generation District Heating Networks, PhD studentship, Total Value: £90,000, May 2021 – Jun 2024. Role: PI
- Energy Technology Partnership/Scottish Power: Mitigate the impacts of heat electrification on grid with flexible heating system, PhD studentship, Total Value: £98,000, Oct 2022 – March 2026. Role: PI
- ETP/Transport Scotland Industry Engagement Fund: Novel Heat Pump System for Electric Retrofitted Commercial Vehicles, Total value: £9,366, April 2022 - Dec 2023, Role: PI
- Scottish Power: PhD Studentship, Impact of electrification of heat on the grid. Total value: £68,000, Jan 2019 - Sep. 2023, Role: PI
Completed Grants:
- EPSRC (GCRF): Geothermally sourced combined power and freshwater generation for eastern Africa (Combi-Gen), Ref: EP/P028829/1, Total value: £1,341,748 (UofG: £969,393), May 2017 – July 2021, Role: Overall project PI.
- EPSRC: Thermal Energy Challenge Call, Thermally Driven Heat Pump Based on an Integrated Thermodynamic Cycle for Low Carbon Domestic Heating (Therma-Pump), Ref: EP/N020472/1, Total value: £713,033 (UofG: £505,270), Oct. 2016 – Jun. 2019, Role: Overall project PI.
- EPSRC: First Grant Scheme, Dynamic Organic Rankine Cycle for Recovering Industrial Waste Heat, Ref: EP/N005228/1, Total value: £98,481, Feb. 2016 – Apr. 2017, Role: PI.
- Innovate UK (Newton Fund: China-UK Research and Innovation Bridges competition): An ORC power plant integrated with thermal energy storage to utilise renewable heat sources for distributed heating and power, Ref: EP/R003122/1, Total value: £2M (UofG: £390,871); May 2017 – April 2019; Role: PI
- Innovate UK: Thermo-economic Feasibility of waste heat recovery in Glass Industry, Total Value: £7,500, Jan 2022 - March 2022, Role: UoG PI
- OfGem: Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), Flexible Heat, Total value: £24k, Feb 2022- April 2022. Role: PI at UoG
- OfGem: Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), Heat Balance, Total value: £27k, Feb 2022- April 2022. Role: Co-I
- Energy Technology Partnership/Scottish Power: Modelling and Optimisation of Integrated Urban Energy Systems for both Heating and Power, PhD studentship, Total Value: £90,000, Feb. 2018 – Jan 2022. Role: PI
- Royal Academy of Engineering: Point-of-use heat exchanger system for bio-filtration and storage of portable water. 01/03/2019-28/02/2022. Total Value: £74,826. Role: Co-I
- EPSRC IAA: Waste heat driven cooling system. Total value: £40K, 01/10/2020-31/12/2021, Role: PI.
- UKRI COA Allocation, Total value: £104,463, 01/01/2021-30/09/2021, Role: PI.
- British Council – NSFC, Researcher Links Workshop Grant 2018, China-UK workshop on low-carbon heating and cooling technologies, Ref: 2018-RLWK10-10298, Value: £40K (UofG: £22K), 01/01/2019 – 31/12/2019, Role: PI.
- Royal Society–National Natural Science Foundation of China: Study on the integrated vehicle IC engine-based ORC system, Ref: IE150866, Total value: £12,500 (UofG: £5,350), Mar. 2016 – Mar. 2018, Role: PI.
- EPSRC IAA: Development of a Novel Expander Technology, (Via EP/K503903/1), Total value: £10K, Jan 2017 – Mar. 2017, Role: PI.
- University of Glasgow: Part-time Industrial Secondment to Crown House Technology Ltd, £9,350, Jan. 2015 – Dec. 2015, Role: PI.
- Royal Society: Investigating zeotropic mixtures as working fluids for high efficiency Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power plants, Ref: RG130051, Total value: £14,750, Nov. 2013 – Oct. 2014, Role: PI.
- European Commission: Demonstration of soft stimulation treatments of geothermal reservoirs (DESTRESS), Ref: 691728, Total value: €10.7M (UofG: £279,890) 2016 – 2020, Role: Co-I
- Innovate UK (Energy Catalyst 4): Developing and testing a new Energy from Waste Gasification Feedstock. Ref: TS/P006914/19 (Innovate UK: 103493), Total value: £639k (UofG: £125k), Role: Co-I
- EPSRC: Real time control of gasifiers to increase tolerance to biomass variety and reduce emissions, Ref: EP/M01343X/1, Jan. 2015 – Dec. 2017, Total value: £999,756 (UoG: £427,355) Role: Co-I.
- European Commission: Low-Carbon After-Life for Coal Mines (LoCAL) – Ground-Source Heat-Pumps, Total Value: £189,871, Jul. 2014 – Jun. 2017, Role: Co-I.
- Royal Academy of Engineering: Innovative energy neutral membrane system for metallurgy wastewater treatment and heavy metal recovery, Ref: NRCP/1415/55, Total value: £17,850, Jan. 2015 – Nov. 2015, Role: Co-I.
- Chinese Academy of Sciences: Visiting Fellowship, Thermoacoustic energy systems, Total value: CNY 130,000, Sep. 2004 – Sep. 2005, Role: PI.
Supervision
Current RA:
- Sarath Babu
- Andrew Mckeown
- Wenguang Li
- Kadam Sambhaji
- Zahra Hajabdollahi Ouderji
Previous RA:
- Hongyang Li
- Guopeng Yu (Associate Professor Sun Yat-sen University, China)
- Youcai Liang (Associate Professor at South China University of Technology)
- Weihong Li (Assistant Professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
- Enhua Wang (Associate Professor at Beijing Institution of Technology)
- Peter Collings
Current PhD students:
- Meng Zhang (Multi-vector energy systems)
- Saif Fraih K Alshammari (Organic Rankine cycle power generation)
- Ebraheem Kateb A Alanazy (CO2 refrigeration)
- Narges Hassani Mokarram (Heat pump)
- Miryam Essadik (Heat pump)
- Nan Zhang (Heat pumps for electric vehicle)
- Adam Thorburn (heat pump)
- Ozcan Recep Sahsuvar (heat pump)
- Saleh Salem S Basouki (heat pump)
- Fatin Abdalla (Heat stroage)
- Alshammari, Saif Fraih K
Study on thermally driven refrigerator based on organic Rankine cycle and vapor compression refrigeration combined by single rotor expander-compressor. - Brown, Gillian
An Analysis of the benefits of Smart Energy Management in a mixed-use and mixed-age campus environment - Essadik, Miryam
Flexible air source heat pumps integrating a heat storage for defrosting operation - Hassani Mokarram, Narges
Flexible Two-stage Heat pump for residential Buildings- Heating and cooling application. - Min, Liang
Operational Optimisation for Active Distribution Network & Multi-Energy System
Previous PhD students:
- Andrew Mckeown (Organic Rankine cycle power generation)
- Michael-Allan Millar (5th Generation District Heating networks)
- Si Chen (Multi-vector energy systems)
- Peter Collings (ORC power plants)
- Mohammed Ridha Al-Tameemi (Heat pumps)
- Ali Al-Kayiem (Thermoacoustic technology)
Potential PhD projects:
Prof. Yu is keen to supervise and support PhD students in the areas as follows:
- Dynamic modelling of flexible heat pumps
- Combined refrigeration and cold energy storage
- High temperature industrial heat pumps
- Heat pump and air-conditioner for electric vehicles
- Defrosting of air source heat pumps
If you have your own project ideas in his research areas and seek for a supervisor, please contact him via email (Zhibin.Yu@glasgow.ac.uk).
Teaching
Current:
- Thermodynamics 2 (Course Leader)
- Thermodynamics of Energy Systems 3 (Course Leader)
- Module 1: Internal combusiton engines (Lecturer)
- Module 2: Refrigeration and heat pumps (Lecturer)
- Individual Project 4
- Individual Project 5
- MSc Project 5
Previously:
- Thermodynamics of Engines 3 (Course Leader, 2014-2021)
- Thermal Engineering 4 (2013-2021)
- Automotive Engines 5 (2013)
Additional information
Esteem:
- Research Theme Coordinator for Heat Energy within the Energy Technology Partnership (ETP)
- External Examiner of Mechanical Engineering Degree Programme, UCL
- External Examiner for MSc Sustainable Energy Systems, University of Edinburgh
- Champion of Net Zero Challenge of the James Watt School of Engineering
- Member of sevreal EPSRC Prioritisation Panels
- Council Member for Institution of Engineers in Scotland (IES)
- Board of Directorates of International Association of Green Energy (IAGE)
Editorial and Conference Contribution:
- Specialty Editor in Chief of Frontier in Thermal Engineering
- Editorial Board Member of Energy Report (Elsvier)
- Editorial Board Member of International Journal of Green Energy (Tylor & Francis)
- Co-Chair of the 14th International Green Energy Conference (2022)
- Co-Chair of the 15th International Green Energy Conference (2023)
Membership:
- Fellow of Institution of Engineers in Scotland (IES)
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Charted Engineer, Engineering Council, United Kingdom
- Member of Institute of Refrigeration (IOR), United Kingdom
- Member of EPSRC College, United Kingdom
- Member of Imeche (2013-2022)
Publication metrics:
Awards to the team:
- Exceptional Performance, Rewards and Recognition, 2021, University of Glasgow
- The top 6% of EPSRC College Members for participating in peer review activities during the last academic year (2019/20)
- The Most Downloaded Original Research Paper Award. Experimental investigation of an Organic Rankine cycle system using an oil-free scroll expander for low grade heat recovery by Youcai Liang and Zhibin Yu (DOI Number: 10.1080/15435075.2021.1880915) published in the International Journal of Green Energy 18 (8) 812-832, 2021 has received The Most Downloaded Original Research Paper Award for original research articles published & downloaded in 2021.
- Most Downloaded Paper Prize, International Journal of Green Energy, 2021. “Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) Experiment of the Buoyant Flow Field of a Thermal Chimney Model Designed for Geothermal Power Plants” By Guopeng Yu, Daniele Zagaglia, Richard Green, and Zhibin Yu
- Best Paper in the Session “Energy Conversion”, 12th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, 11-12 July 2016, Malaga, Spain; with a paper “Dynamic Organic Cycle with a fixed expansion ratio positive displacement expander” authored by Peter Collings and Zhibin Yu.
- Best Paper in the Session “Energy and Environmental Systems”, 12th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, 11-12 July 2016, Malaga, Spain; with a paper “A combined organic Rankine cycle – heat pump system for domestic hot water application” authored by Peter Collings, Mohammed Al-Tameemi and Zhibin Yu.
- Dr Zhibin Yu received “Outstanding Reviewer” Certificate from the journal “Applied Energy”, Elsevier, 2015.
- PhD Student Ali Al-Kayiem received “James Watt PG Award” from the School of Engineering in 2015.
- Certificate of Merit (Student) for the 2014 International Conference of Mechanical Engineering, with a paper “Design of a traveling wave thermoacoustic engine driven cooler with hybrid configuration”, authored by Ali Al-Kayiem, and Zhibin Yu.
- Runner Up Prize for Best student paper at 3rd IIR International Conference on Sustainability and the Cold Chain, London, UK, with a paper “Heating Glasgow University with river sourced heat pumps” authored by Adam McConkey, Andrew Poon-King and Zhibin Yu.
Press coverage of my reserach:
- https://knowablemagazine.org/article/technology/2023/heat-pumps-becoming-technology-future
- https://physicsworld.com/a/home-green-home-scientific-solutions-for-cutting-carbon-and-maybe-saving-money/
- https://cosyhomesoxfordshire.org/retrofit-news/new-extra-efficient-heat-pump-unveiled-by-professor/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmkfDM-H9nU
- https://blingeach.com/subsequent-gen-warmth-pump-might-minimize-vitality-payments-and-carbon-emissions/
- https://www.futurenetzero.com/2023/02/13/sse-energy-solutions-and-glasgow-uni-fund-green-tech-business-study/
- https://www.eseficiencia.es/2022/08/08/investigadores-ingleses-buscan-colaboradores-desarrollar-bomba-calor-ultima-generacion
- https://technovery.com/teplovoj-nasos-sleduyushhego-pokoleniya-mozhet-sokratit-scheta-za-elektroenergiyu-i-vybrosy-uglekislogo-gaza/
- https://www.barlettaweb.com/tecnologia/la-pompa-di-calore-di-nuova-generazione-potrebbe-ridurre-le-bollette-energetiche-e-le-emissioni-di-carbonio/16828/
- https://hqnetwork.co.uk/news/next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-energy-bills-and-carbon-emissions/
- https://www.building.co.uk/news/academics-unveil-weather-resistant-heat-pump/5118762.article
- https://environmentjournal.online/articles/new-cost-effective-heat-pump-could-cut-carbon-emissions/
- https://constructionmanagement.co.uk/new-type-of-flexible-heat-pump-more-efficient-in-cold-conditions/
- https://refrigerationandaircon.co.za/next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-costs-and-carbon-emissions-further/
- https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/researchers-launch-new-heat-pump-technology-claimed-to-address-issues-that-have-hindered-widespread-adoption-76891
- https://envirotecmagazine.com/2022/08/09/next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-energy-bills-and-carbon-emissions/
- https://finchannel.com/next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-energy-bills-and-carbon-emmissions/
- https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/news/new-heat-pump-design-could-cut-running-costs
- https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/08/simple-new-heat-pump-design-could-cut-emissions-and-cost/
- https://www.futurenetzero.com/2022/08/02/glaswegian-heat-pump-to-accelerate-the-uks-race-to-low-carbon-heat/
- https://www.utilities-me.com/power/next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-energy-bills-and-carbon-emissions
- https://www.coolingpost.com/features/flexible-heat-pump-offers-increased-efficiency/
- https://www.myscience.uk/news/2022/next_gen_heat_pump_could_cut_energy_bills_and_carbon_emissions-2022-glasgow
- https://projectscot.com/2022/08/university-of-glasgow-creates-heat-pump-tipped-to-lower-household-bills/
- https://www.scottishhousingnews.com/articles/next-generation-heat-pump-developed-by-university-of-glasgow-could-cut-energy-bills-and-emissions
- https://www.energylivenews.com/2022/08/02/glaswegian-heat-pump-to-accelerate-the-uks-race-to-low-carbon-heat/
- https://indiaeducationdiary.in/university-of-glasgow-next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-energy-bills-and-carbon-emissions/
- https://www.scottishconstructionnow.com/articles/next-generation-heat-pump-developed-by-university-of-glasgow-could-cut-energy-bills-and-emissions
- https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/news/new-heat-pump-design-claims-efficiency-gains
- https://www-tmp.thenational.scot/news/20593633.glasgow-university-researchers-create-revolutionary-heat-pump/
- https://scottishbusinessnews.net/glasgow-next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-energy-bills-and-carbon-emissions/
- https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-next-gen-energy-bills-carbon-emissions.html
- https://smartech.energy/next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-energy-bills-and-carbon-emissions/
- https://www.world-energy.org/article/26126.html
- https://www.thetechstreetnow.com/tech/next-gen-heat-pump-could-cut-energy-bills-and-carbon-emissions/16677097381237904363/16677097381237904363/