FCT researcher wins Eurotherm Young Scientist Prize and Awards

The doctoral thesis "Modeling and optimization of porous volumetric receivers in point-focus solar concentration systems" by researcher Germilly Barreto, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through a Studentship , won the "Eurotherm Young Scientist Prize and Awards."

Germilly Barreto is from Cape Verde and is a researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences and the Chair of Renewable Energy at the University of Évora (CER-UÉ). He completed his PhD in March 2020, and this was the first time that a doctoral thesis developed at a Portuguese university had won this international award.

The award recognized the originality, scientific level, relevance of the results for thermal sciences and heat transfer, the adequacy of numerical modeling, and the experimental methods used in his research work in the field of heat and energy transfer. The work consisted of modeling and optimizing volumetric solar receivers made of SiC ceramic sponges in point-focus concentration systems, including the development and application of three-dimensional models of solar radiation absorption, fluid flow, and heat transfer in the receiver, as well as the experimental determination of the radiative properties of the porous medium.

The winners will be presented at the 8th European Thermal Sciences Conference, which is taking place in Lisbon until September 23, 2021. The awards are presented every four years by the Eurotherm committee and consist of one EUROTHERM Award and two EUROTHERM Young Scientist Awards for young scientists who have completed their PhD in the field of heat transfer and thermal sciences.

Photo: University of Évora