Juan Pablo Trelles

Expertise

Sustainable Energy Engineering; Plasma Science & Engineering; Computational Transport Phenomena

Research Interests

Energy sustainability, direct use of electrical and solar energy in industrial processes, plasma physics and chemistry, non-equilibrium energy transport, numerical methods for multi-physics and multi-scale problems.

Education

• Ph.D: Mechanical Engineering, (2007), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• MS: Energy Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, (2003), University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts
• BS: Mechanical Engineering, (2001), Universidad Nacional de Ingenierêa, Lima, Peru

Biosketch

Juan Pablo Trelles research focuses on devising concepts, methods, and devices for the direct use of solar energy and electrical energy in industrial processes. These processes range from the synthesis of high-value chemicals and materials to the modification of materials and surfaces. A fundamental aspect of Trelles’ research is the combination of experimental and computational approaches to achieve impactful understanding. His group’s work has been developing strategies for the solution of transport problems, which are found at the core of most energy systems are typically involve multi-scale and multi-physics. These methods have been applied to the analysis of diverse plasma flows, thermal systems, radiation transport, multi-phase problems, among others. Trelles joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2012. Before joining UMass Lowell, he was a Senior Software Engineer at Intel Corporation in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Selected Awards and Honors

• Early Career Research Award (2017) - U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science
• CAREER Award (2015) - U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Logic Technology Development Division Award (2011) - Technology Manufacturing Group, Intel Corporation

Selected Publications

• J. P. Trelles, “Solar-Plasma Reactors for CO2 Conversion”, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics (2022), Vol. 55, 103001. DOI: 0.1088/1361-6463/ac3035
• V. Bhigamudre, J. P. Trelles, “Investigation of Flow Regimes in Arc Plasma - Gas Interactions Using a Two-Temperature Arc in Crossflow Model”, Physics of Plasmas (2020), Vol. 27, 022305. DOI: 10.1063/1.5113772
• R. Elahi, D. Nagassou, S. Mohsenian, J. P. Trelles, “Enhanced Solar Radiation Absorption by Carbon Dioxide in Thermodynamic Nonequilibrium: A Computational Study”, Solar Energy (2020), Vol. 195, pp. 369-381. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2019.11.015
• S. Mohsenian, D. Nagassou, R. Elahi, P. Yu, M. Nallar, H.-W. Wong, J. P. Trelles, “Carbon Dioxide Conversion by Solar-Enhanced Microwave Plasma: Effect of Specific Power and Argon/Nitrogen Carrier Gases”, Journal of CO2 Utilization (2019) Vol. 34, 725-732. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcou.2019.09.002
• S. Mohsenian, D. Nagassou, S. Bhatta, R. Elahi, J. P. Trelles, “Design and Characterization of a Solar-Enhanced Microwave Plasma Reactor for Atmospheric Pressure Carbon Dioxide Decomposition”, Plasma Sources Science and Technology (2019), Vol. 28, 065001. DOI: 10.1088/1361-6595/ab1c43
• S. Bhatta, D. Nagassou, S. Mohsenian, J. P. Trelles, “Photo-Thermochemical Decomposition of Carbon-Dioxide in a Direct Solar Receiver-Reactor”, Solar Energy (2019), Vol. 178, 201-214. DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2018.12.019
• J. P. Trelles, “Advances and Challenges Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas”, Plasma Sources Science and Technology (2018), Vol. 27, 093001. DOI: 10.1088/1361-6595/aac9fa
• J. P. Trelles, “Finite Element Methods for Arc Discharge Simulation”, Plasma Processes and Polymers (2017), Vol. 14, No. 1-2, 1600092. DOI: 10.1002/ppap.201600092
• J. P. Trelles, “Pattern Formation and Self-Organization in Plasmas Interacting with Surfaces”, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics (2016), Vol. 49, No. 39, 393002. DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/49/39/393002
• S. M. Modir Khazeni, J. P. Trelles, “Algebraic Approximation of Sub-Grid Scales for the Variational Multiscale Modeling of Transport Problems”, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering (2016) Vol. 306, pp. 276-298. DOI: 10.1016/j.cma.2016.03.041
• M. Gautier, V. Rohani, L. Fulcheri, J. P. Trelles, “Influence of Temperature and Pressure on Carbon Black Size Distribution during Allothermal Cracking of Methane”, Aerosol Science and Technology (2016), Vol. 50, No. 1, 26-40. DOI: 10.1080/02786826.2015.1123214
• R. O. Castro, J. P. Trelles, “Spatial and Angular Finite Element Method for Radiative Transfer in Participating Media”, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer (2015) Vol. 157, pp. 81-105. DOI: 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2015.02.008
• J. P. Trelles, S. M. Modir Khazeni,“Variational Multiscale Method for Nonequilibrium Plasma Flows”, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering (2014) Vol. 282, pp. 87-131. DOI: 10.1016/j.cma.2014.09.001
• J. P. Trelles, “Electrode Patterns in Arc Discharge Simulations: Effect of Anode Cooling”, Plasma Sources Science and Technology (2014), Vol. 23, No. 5, 054002. DOI: 10.1088/0963-0252/23/5/054002