Department of Engineering / Profiles / Dr Mohammad Saghafifar

Department of Engineering

Dr Mohammad Saghafifar

ms2474

Mohammad Saghafifar

Research Associate in Thermo Physical and Thermochemical Energy Storage

Academic Division: Energy, Fluids and Turbomachinery

Research group: Energy

Email: ms2474@eng.cam.ac.uk

Research interests

In general, I have conducted research on various aspects of power generation, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage,grid-scale electricity storage, and solar air conditioning. As a result, I have acquired several skills and tools for analyzing a power cycle (e.g. heat engines, heat pumps, and refrigeration cycles) such as energy, exergy, and economic analyses and optimizations. I have also worked with different solar collectors such as parabolic troughs, heliostat field collectors, and photovoltaic/thermal collectors (PV/T). I have experience in solar power generation, solar air conditioning, and solar carbon capture and storage. 

During my PhD, I studied the feasibility of chemical looping as a new grid-scale electricity storage mechanism.

My research interests are, among others, in concentrated solar power, carbon capture and storage, grid-scale electricity storage, thermal energy storage, solar fuel and hydrogen generation, and Photovoltaic/Thermal collectors.

Journal Publication

  1. Saghafifar, M., Schnellmann, M. A., Scott, S., A. "Chemical looping electricity storage." Applied Energy, 2020.
  2. Saghafifar, M., Mohammadi, K., and Powell, K. "Design and analysis of a dual-receiver direct steam generator solar power tower plant with a flexible heliostat field." Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 39:100698, 2020.
  3. Saghafifar, M., and Gabra, S. "A critical overview of solar assisted carbon capture systems: Is solar always the solution?." International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 92:102852, 2020.
  4. Mohammadi, K., Khaledi, M.S.E., Saghafifar, M., and Powell, K. "Hybrid systems based on gas turbine combined cycle for trigeneration of power, cooling, and freshwater: A comparative techno-economic assessment." Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 37:100632, 2020.
  5. Saghafifar, M., Omar, A., Mohammadi, K., Alashkar, A., and Gadalla, M. "A review of unconventional bottoming cycles for waste heat recovery: Part I- Analysis, design, and optimization." Energy Conversion and Management, 198:110905, 2019.
  6. Omar, A., Saghafifar, M., Mohammadi, K., Alashkar, A., and Gadalla, M. "A review of unconventional bottoming cycles for waste heat recovery: Part II- Applications." Energy Conversion and Management, 180:559–583, 2019.
  7. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. "A critical assessment of thermo-economic analyses of different air bottoming cycles for waste heat recovery." International Journal of Energy Research, 43(4):1315–1341, 2019.
  8. Saghafifar, M., Gadalla, M., and Mohammadi, K. "Thermo-economic analysis and optimization of heliostat fields using AINEH code: Analysis of implementation of non-equal heliostats (AINEH)." Renewable energy, 135:920-935, 2019.
  9. Mohammadi, K., Saghafifar, M., Ellingwood, K., and Powell, K. "Hybrid concentrated solar power (CSP)-desalination systems: A review." Desalination, 468:114083, 2019.
  10. Mohammadi, K., McGowan, J.G., and Saghafifar, M. "Thermoeconomic analysis of multi-stage recuperative Brayton power cycles: Part I-hybridization with a solar power tower system." Energy conversion and Management, 185:898-919, 2019.
  11. Mohammadi, K., Saghafifar, M., McGowan, J.G., and Powell, K. "Thermo-economic analysis of a novel hybrid multigeneration system based on an integrated triple effect refrigeration system for production of power and refrigeration." Journal of Cleaner Production, 238:117912, 2019.
  12. Gadalla, M., and Saghafifar, M. “A concise overview of heliostat fields‐solar thermal collectors: Current state of art and future perspective.” International Journal of Energy Research, 42(10):3145–3163, 2018.
  13. Mohammadi, K., Saghafifar, M., and McGowan, J. "Thermo-economic evaluation of several feasible modifications to the gas power plant with air bottoming combined cycle for different applications." Energy Conversion and Management, 172:619–644, 2018.
  14. Mohammadi, K., Naderi, M., and Saghafifar, M. "Economic feasibility and environmental benefits of developing grid-connected photovoltaic plants in the southern coast of Iran." Energy, 156:17–31, 2018.
  15. Saghafifar, M., Omar, A., Erfanmoghaddam, S, and Gadalla, M. “Thermoeconomic analysis of recuperated Maisotsenko bottoming cycle using triplex air saturator: Comparative analyses.” Applied Thermal Engineering, 111:431–444, 2017.
  16. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Thermo-economic evaluation of water-injected air bottoming cycles hybridization using heliostat field collector: Comparative analyses.” Energy, 119:1230–1246, 2017.
  17. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Thermo-economic optimization of hybrid solar Maisotsenko bottoming cycles using heliostat field collector: Comparative analyses.” Applied Energy, 190:686–702, 2017.
  18. Gadalla, M., and Saghafifar, M. “Energy and Exergy analyses of integration of pulse combustor in air bottoming cycle power plants.” Applied Thermal Engineering 121:674–687, 2017.
  19. Saghafifar, M., and Poullikkas, A. “Comparative analysis of power augmentation in air bottoming cycles.” International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 36(1):47– 60, 2017.
  20. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Thermo-economic analysis of air bottoming cycle hybridization using heliostat field collector: A comparative analysis.” Energy 112:698–714, 2016.
  21. Omar, A., Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Thermo-economic Analysis of Air Saturator Integration in Conventional Combined cycles.” Applied Thermal Engineering, 107:1104–1122, 2016.
  22. Gadalla, M. and Saghafifar, M.,“Thermo-economic and comparative analyses of two recently proposed optimization approaches for circular heliostat fields: Campo radial-staggered and biomimetic spiral.” Solar Energy, 136:197–209, 2016.  
  23. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Thermo-economic analysis of conventional combined cycle hybridization: United Arab Emirates case study.” Energy Conversion and Management, 111:358–374, 2016.
  24. Gadalla, M., and Saghafifar, M. “Performance assessment and transient optimization of air precooling in multi-stage solid desiccant air conditioning systems.” Energy Conversion and Management, 119:187–202, 2016.
  25. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M.“Performance assessment of integrated PV/T and solid desiccant air-conditioning systems for cooling buildings using Maisotsenko cooling cycle.” Solar Energy, 127:79–95, 2016. (25 most downloaded articles Feb 2016 – May 2016)
  26. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Analysis of Maisotsenko open gas turbine bottoming cycle.” Applied Thermal Engineering, 82:351–359, 2015.
  27. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Analysis of Maisotsenko open gas turbine power cycle with a detailed air saturator model.” Applied Energy, 149:338–353, 2015. Featured by the Advances in Engineering website as a key scientific article.
  28. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Innovative inlet air cooling technology for gas turbine power plants using integrated solid desiccant and Maisotsenko cooler.” Energy, 87:663–677, 2015.
  29. Saghafifar, M., and Poullikkas, A. “Thermo-economic optimization of air bottoming cycles.” Journal of Power Technologies, 95(3):211–220, 2015.

Conference Publication 

  1. Madurawala, D., Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Thermodynamic Analysis and Design of a Heliostat Field to Co-Produce Hydrogen and Electricity.” In ASME 2017 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition IMECE2017., 2017, Tampa 
  2. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “A thermoeconomic comparative analysis between different approaches of specific carbon dioxide emission reduction for a simple gas turbine power plant.” In proceedings of 9th International Exergy, Energy and Environment Symposium., 2017, Split
  3. Gadalla, M., and Saghafifar, M. “Performance assessment and transient optimization of multi-stage solid desiccant air conditioning systems with building PV/T integration.” In SPIE Optics + Photonics for Sustainable Energy symposium., 2016, San Diego
  4. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Selecting a proper design period for heliostat field layout optimization using Campo code.” In SPIE Optics + Photonics for Sustainable Energy symposium., 2016, San Diego
  5. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Improvement in spiral heliostat field layout thermo-economic performance by field zoning implementation.” ASME 2016 Power and Energy Conference and Exhibition., 2016, Charlotte North Carolina
  6. Saghafifar, M., and Gadalla, M. “Solid Desiccant Air Conditioning System Using Maisotsenko Cooling Cycle in UAE.” In Proceedings of third International Conference on Water, Energy, and the Environment., 2015, Sharjah
  7. Gadalla, M., and Saghafifar, M. “Integrating a pulse combustor in air bottoming cycle power plants.” In proceedings of 7th International Exergy, Energy and Environment Symposium., 2015, Valenciennes

Biography

Mohammad Saghafifar is currently a PhD student in the Engineering department of the University of Cambridge. He is working under the supervision of Dr. Stuart Scott. He holds M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from American University of Sharjah.

For his Master studies, he investigated the feasibility of a 50 MWe solar hybrid combined cycle power plant with a topping gas turbine cycle and four different bottoming cycles. Power plant hybridization was accomplished by employing solar tower collector (Heliostat field collector). Three rather unconventional bottoming cycle configurations were chosen including gas turbine (air bottoming cycle), water injected gas turbine (water injected air bottoming cycle) , and the Maisotsenko cycle (Maisotsenko bottoming cycle). These three configurations along with the conventional combined power plant (steam bottoming cycle) were optimized by conducting thermo-economic and transient analyses in MATLAB to identify the most economically justified plant configuration for the UAE.

During his PhD, he started working on topics related to carbon capture and storage, in particular chemical looping. In addition to the application of chemical looping in carbon capture and storage, his research also involves developing a grid-scale electricity storage system using chemical looping. To do so, a numerical model of a packed bed reactor has been developed in addition to trying to come up with a simplified model of the packed bed reactor to evaluate and optimize these storage systems using exergy analysis. 

Department role and responsibilities

IIA Thermodynamics & Power Generation, Supervisor (2018-2019)

IIA Thermodynamics & Power Generation, Supervisor (2019-2020)