Jeffrey S. Allen
Personal Web Page
E-mail:jstallen@mtu.edu

Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Dayton, 1998

Capillary Flow, Interfacial Transport Phenomena, Fuel Cells, Phase-Change Heat Transfer, Microgravity Fluid Physics

Research Interests
Dr. Allen is an experimentalist interested in the study of two-phase flow in capillary systems; such as found in the gas flow channels and diffusion media of PEM fuel cells. The behavior of liquid water in the internal passages of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells, a class of low temperature fuel cells, presents a serious challenge to the development of reliable and efficient power units. The factors which influence capillary flow are well established (contact angle, geometry and surface tension), but the behavior of gas-liquid flows subject to capillary phenomena in the complex, manifolding passages of PEM fuel cells is not fully understood. Other active research involves investigations of the stability of evaporating and condensing liquid films, microfluidic systems such as lab-on-a-chip, microfluidic diagnostic development, design and optimization of micro-fuel reformers, and low-gravity fluid dynamics.

Publications:

• A. Herescu and J.S. Allen, "A Theoretical Investigation of an Electric-Field-Driven Menisci Micro-Pump", submitted to J. Fluids Engineering, July 2006.
  
• S-K Wee, K. D. Kihm, D. M. Pratt and J. S. Allen, “Microscale Heat and Mass Transport of Evaporating Thin Film of Binary Mixture”, J. Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, 20(2), 320-326, 2006.
  
• S.Y. Son and J.S. Allen, “Visualization and Predictive Modeling of Two-Phase Flow Regime Transition with Applications Towards Water Management in the Gas-Flow Channels of PEM Fuel Cells”, IMECE2005-82422, 2005 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Orlando, Florida, November 5-11, 2005.
  
• S. M. Som, J. C. Hermanson, and J. S. Allen, “Stability and Heat Transfer Characteristics of an Unsteady Condensing Film”, International Astronautical Congress, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, October 4-8, 2004.
  
• H. J. Kim, K. D. Kihm, and J. S. Allen, "Examination of Ratiometric Laser Induced Fluorescence Thermometry for Microscale Spatial Measurement Resolution", International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 46, 3967-3974, 2003.
  
• J. S. Allen, "An analytical solution for determination of small contact angles from sessile drops of arbitrary size", Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 261(2), 481-489, 2003.

   

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