Thermal Systems
Thermal systems focus on how heat can be used, stored, transferred and converted into energy. These systems play a role in our everyday lives and are part of why appliances like hot water heaters, air conditioners, and refrigerators work. Larger systems like rocket engines and power plants also employ thermal systems to convert heat into useful energy. From cookstoves in India to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, understanding thermal systems is critical to our modern world.
At the Energy Institute, our experts at our Interdisciplinary Thermal Science Lab are working to improve upon the efficiency of thermal systems by capturing and excess waste heat and converting it into cooling.