Dr. Naveen Pillai
Hydrodynamics Simulation Engineer
nVirion Devices, LLC

Abstract

Hundreds of Americans die each week, and billions of dollars are being lost annually due to airborne pathogens like SARS-CoV-2, influenza viruses (infecting 3%-11% of people in the U.S. annually), etc. Further, a 11/23/2022 CNBC report stated, “Long Covid may be ‘the next public health disaster’ — with a $3.7 trillion economic impact rivaling the Great Recession.”

nVirion Devices, LLC has a preliminary design for a device that functions as a “personal-ventilation breathing zone” which, according to S. Ferrari et. Al is the most effective approach to mitigating the effect of airborne viruses. The nVirion Electrifier (nVE) is designed to be silent, affordable, safe, easy to maintain, and operate without a filter.

The effort to achieve zero-carbon emissions in transportation has tended to exclusively favor using batteries. Where such designs are not practical — heavy-duty trucks, marine vessels, trains, aircraft — manufacturers have considered hydrogen as a fuel source. Hydrogen would be used either as feedstock for fuel cells (which would recharge a battery pack) or in direct combustion. The infrastructure and delivery of hydrogen may preclude or make it difficult for many of these applications.

The goal of i-Energy Harvesting has been to develop an engine that could continue to operate efficiently for decades in stationary and mobile applications. To remain viable, the engine would need to operate using emerging low-carbon and zero-carbon fuels. For broad acceptance, such an engine would need to be scalable, offering a high output-to-weight ratio at different sizes.

The design to meet these goals, “Typhoon,” is a rotary engine driven by steam. We believe the design results in engine output will be comparable to a high-output internal-combustion engine, but more compact and lighter. External combustion allows more precise control of the fuel-air ratio, which results in lower exhaust emissions.

Biography

Dr. Naveen Pillai is currently juggling various hats: developing a rotary steam engine with i-Energy Harvesting, working on the development of a novel device to eradicate airborne pathogens at nVirion Devices, LLC, and building his board game retail business (Wild Wanderer Games).

Prior to that, he completed a postdoctoral appointment at North Carolina State University (NCSU) under the direction of Dr. Igor Bolotnov. He received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering at NCSU in 2021, co-advised by Dr. Igor Bolotnov and Dr. Katarina Stapelmann. At NCSU, he devised and implemented a Multiphysics framework to transport bubble shape data from high-resolution interface resolved Direct Numerical Simulation into plasma hydrodynamics simulations wherein one can probe deeper into the chemistry and physics of plasma formation within the bubbles. In his younger days, he weathered the hazards of the idiosyncrasies of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CEMS) at the University of Minnesota to earn his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (summa cum laude) in 2017.

Thursday, April 11. 2024
4:00 pm seminar

zoom link upon request