Sheldon Green
Professor
sheldon.green@ubc.ca
Home department: Mechanical Engineering
Website: Applied Fluid Mechanics Laboratory
Research Interests
- Industrial fluid mechanics
- Liquid friction modifier application to surfaces
- Electrospraying onto a moving surface
- Paper creping
- Paper pressing
- Energy recovery ventilators
Current Research Projects
- Friction modifier is a product applied to railroad wheels or rails to maintain the friction between the wheel and the rail at an optimal level. Too low a coefficient of friction can cause derailment or the inability to climb a slope, and too high a coefficient results in excessive fuel consumption and track wear and noise. In collaboration with the multinational company LB Foster, we study, experimentally and analytically, the efficient application of liquid friction modifier to railroad tracks or wheels. We have also begun to explore the feasibility of using electrospraying to coat railroad tracks from a moving train. Academic collaborators for these projects are Professors Boris Stoeber and Neil Balmforth.
- Creping is the process that is used to generate toilet paper, paper towel, and other important consumer products from a paper sheet. The quality of the creping process affects the softness, strength, and absorbency of the creped paper. Professor Srikantha Phani and I are collaborating with a consortium of four companies (FP Innovations, Kruger Products, Solenis, and Albany) to understand paper creping, using a combination of analytical and experimental methods.
- In a paper machine, the pulp mat leaving the forming section is about 80% water by weight. To reduce the energy consumed in the drying section, and to improve the paper consolidation, the paper is pressed before drying. We carry out unique experiments to understand paper pressing mechanics (industrial collaborator: AstenJohnson; academic collaborator: Professor Boris Stoeber).
- Professor Steven Rogak and I are collaborating with Core Energy Recovery Solutions to understand the complex heat and mass transfer processes in energy recovery ventilators. This research combines experimental techniques and analysis.