Project description
New approach to model evaporating liquids
Inkjet printing and various microfluidic processes rely heavily on droplet evaporation, which alone can consume a large part of a system’s total energy. Optimising this efficiency is challenging because state-of-the-art computer models cannot simulate how neighbouring droplets interact. As a liquid droplet evaporates, the surrounding gas layer alters the evaporation rate of nearby droplets, requiring a complex multi-phase description that current technology lacks. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TRANSFORM project aims to develop a pioneering, first-principle phase-field theory. This foundational research into compressible fluid mixtures will accurately simulate interacting droplets, providing industries with advanced computational tools to solve complex fluid dynamics challenges.
Objective
Droplet evaporation plays an important role in many microfluidics processes. For example, in inkjet printing, evaporation phenomena typically account for approximately 80% of the total energy usage. Optimizing these processes requires a detailed understanding of these phenomena. Alongside experimentation and theoretical work, it is indispensable to integrate high-fidelity computer simulations in the process. At this moment, a suitable first-principles computer model that can describe evaporation phenomena is non-existent.
The challenge in the design of computer models lies in the interaction between droplets. Namely, the evaporation of a liquid droplet produces a gas layer in the vicinity of the droplet which greatly affects the evaporation rate of nearby droplets. Taking this process into account requires a phase-field description of multi-component-multi-phase type. However, state-of-the-art phase-field technology falls short in addressing problems of this type.
The main objective of my project is to realize a breakthrough in phase-field technology by establishing a new phase-field theory for phase-transforming mixtures that is rooted in first-principles mixture theory. The novel theory has a multi-phase-field character that naturally incorporates the interaction between evaporating droplets. My project involves a private-public partnership with experts in microfluidics for inkjet printing at Canon Production Printing Netherlands. If awarded, my project will lay the foundation for the new and largely unexplored field of compressible multi-phase-field theories. These theories describe many processes in which phase
transitions play a role, in microfluidics and beyond. This marks the consolidation of my research line that focuses on the intersection of physical modeling and advanced computing in complex fluids, and aligns with my career goal of becoming a leader of a research group in academia that addresses industrial challenges in complex fluid dynamics at large.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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5612 AE Eindhoven
Netherlands
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