Horst Complex

dr. T. Zhu (Tingting)

Assistant Professor
ET-TFE-HTT
Horst Complex N215
t.zhu@utwente.nl
+31534898823
Business card

About Me

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Thermal and Fluid Engineering  at the University of Twente. From 2019 to 2022, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow under the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship (H.C. Ørsted COFUND) at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where I focused on advancing district heating systems using heat pumps and zeotropic refrigerants. During this time, I also led the development of a multifunctional heat pump testing platform for the Thermal Energy Section Laboratory.

I completed my Ph.D. research on the thermal behavior of novel solar thermal collectors based on micro heat pipe arrays (MHPA). My doctoral work included significant contributions to projects on high-efficiency phase change thermal storage and the development of solar heating systems integrated with advanced thermal storage technologies.

Research Vision

My work aims to advance energy utilization technologies to drive the global energy transition. Looking forward, my research will focus on optimizing and integrating heat pump systems while developing innovative energy conversion technologies that leverage sustainable refrigerants and materials.

Current Research Interests

  • Heat Transfer and Frost Formation: Investigating the mechanisms of frost formation on evaporator surfaces to enhance efficiency.
  • Thermodynamics of Mixture Refrigerants: Understanding and improving the performance of zeotropic mixture refrigerants in heat pump systems.
  • Integrated Multi-Source Energy Systems: Developing technologies to integrate renewable and conventional energy sources in sustainable energy systems.
  • Functional Materials in Heat Exchangers: Exploring the application of advanced materials to improve heat exchanger performance.

Expertise

  • Physics

    • Performance
    • Arrays
    • Air
    • Heat Pipe

  • Engineering

    • Micro Heat Pipe
    • Air Collector
    • Thermal Energy Storage
    • Heat Transfer

Organisations

Research fields

  • Advanced Heat Pump Technologies: Including zeotropic mixture refrigerants and innovative applications (4/5th distrct heating/cooling systems).
  • Solar Thermal and Hybrid Energy Systems: Emphasizing solar thermal energy,  photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) systems and advanced thermal energy storage solutions.
  • Micro-Heat Pipe Innovations: Developing efficient thermal management solutions.

Publications

2025

Heat transfer characteristics of flat-plate micro heat pipes with integrated copper foam for aerospace thermal management (2025)Applied thermal engineering, 263. Article 125319. Wang, G., Chen, Y., Yu, W., Hu, T., Su, H. & Zhu, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.125319

2024

Advancing gasoline vapor recovery in oil depots: Integrating cooling and adsorption technologies (2024)Energy, 313. Article 133823. Liang, J., Sun, L., Cheng, C., Wang, K., Zhu, T. & Li, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2024.133823Booster heat pump with drop-in zeotropic mixtures applied in ultra-low temperature district heating system (2024)Energy, 305. Article 132292. Zhu, T., Vieren, E., Liang, J., Thorsen, J. E., De Paepe, M., Lecompte, S. & Elmegaard, B.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2024.132292A comprehensive review of compression high-temperature heat pump steam system: Status and trend (2024)International journal of refrigeration, 164, 218-242. Ma, X., Du, Y., Zhao, T., Zhu, T., Lei, B. & Wu, Y.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2024.04.024Allocation optimization of two-stage compression-absorption heat exchanger (2024)International journal of heat and fluid flow, 107. Article 109396. Hua, J., Wang, J. & Zhu, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2024.109396Numerical analysis on thermal behavior of cascaded thermal storage units using multichannel flat tubes (2024)Journal of Energy Storage, 92. Article 112142. Pan, Y., Diao, Y., Liu, Y., Chen, C., Wang, X., Sun, C., Zhao, Y., Wang, T. & Zhu, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2024.112142Performance investigation of a novel flat-plate solar air collector with L-shaped dual micro heat pipe arrays (2024)Applied thermal engineering, 243. Article 122566. Wang, X., Diao, Y., Wang, Z., Zhao, Y., Pan, Y., Zhang, D. & Zhu, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.122566Performance of boilers equipped with vapor-pump (BEVP) system equipped with a novel air-flue gas total heat exchanger (2024)International journal of heat and fluid flow, 106. Article 109316. Hua, J., Wang, J. & Zhu, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2024.109316Performance evaluation of air-source heat pump based on a pressure drop embedded model (2024)Heliyon, 10(4). Article e24634. Koopman, T., Zhu, T. & Rohlfs, W.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24634An experimental investigation on the heat transfer characteristics of cascaded thermal storage units based on multichannel flat tubes (2024)Journal of Energy Storage, 78. Article 110012. Pan, Y., Diao, Y., Liu, Y., Chen, C., Zhao, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, D. & Zhu, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.110012

Research profiles

Affiliated study programs

Courses academic year 2024/2025

Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.

Courses academic year 2023/2024

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship

Address

University of Twente

Horst Complex (building no. 20), room N215
De Horst 2
7522 LW Enschede
Netherlands

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