Madiseh, Ali

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Research Interests

• Application of Renewable Energy in Resource Sector
• Energy Systems
• Decarbonization

Research Projects

• Application of microwave-assisted fragmentation in excavation and comminution of hard rocks/ores: the relatively low energy efficiency of rock fragmentation, including excavation/comminution, is among the most challenging mining industry hurdles. The microwave pre-treatment technique has yielded promising results compared to other pre-weakening solutions such as high-temperature rock cutting, electro-pulse defragmentation and hydrofracking. So far, the importance of the energy used in creating microwave-induced fractures is mostly overlooked. The primary goal of our research is to connect energy consumption and strength reduction by using numerical methods. Towards this end, A COMSOL-based numerical tool has been developed to simulate the microwave-treatment process taking place within the cavity. In addition to this Finite Element Method (FEM) tool, a Discrete Element Modelling (DEM) tool has been developed to evaluate the behavior of rocks undergoing microwave treatment. These numerical tools will be used to better understand rock fragmentation and macro-scale responses to achieve energy viability in microwave-assisted rock fragmentation processes.
• Mine hybrid renewable energy system for application in remote mines: Due to its high fossil fuel dependency, the mining sector is one of the primary contributors of carbon emissions from Canadian industry (82.6 megatons in 2017 according to Natural Resources Canada). Consequently, miners are seeking more innovative solutions for fully transitioning their energy supply off fossil fuels especially in remote mines where lack of access to electric grid and natural gas makes them solely rely on fossil fuels for provision of power, haulage and heat. Renewable energy systems such as wind and solar photovoltaic can relieve this over-reliance on fossil fuels. Although some progresses have been made to shift towards green energies, high cost of battery storage system makes the current mine renewable solutions economically non-competitive with the conventional diesel-based systems. Using hydrogen and thermal storage systems due their relatively cheaper technologies can facilitate the application of renewable energies in mining industry. In this project we aim to develop a novel integrated renewable-multi storage (Battery/Hydrogen/Thermal Storage) solution for provision of fully-decarbonized energy in off-grid mining operations.
• Design of integrated solar-borehole thermal storage systems: Solar thermal collector system absorbs the solar thermal energy year-round which is mostly stored during the summer days in underground through borehole heat exchangers. The stored energy is extracted during the winter months to supply the building heat demand. This research underlines the seasonal intermittency issues with renewable heating systems which can be effectively dealt by use of borehole thermal energy storage systems. A numerical simulation code is developed to couple the solar thermal collector system with the borehole thermal energy storage system. This code aims to study and explore the heat transfer mechanisms involved in the integrated system to gain a better understanding and enhance the performance of the system.