Like Li joins UCF as an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a faculty member of the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research. Prior to that, he was an associate professor and assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department at Mississippi State University.

Li leads the Thermal Energy Storage and Decarbonization (TESD) Lab focusing on advanced energy storage technologies research, development and demonstration to contribute to the transition to a clean and decarbonized energy future. He is a principle investigator of more than $4.2 million in research funding (total funding ~$14M as PI and Co-PI) from federal agencies and industries including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO-19, -20, -21 and -22 projects), NASA, Army Research Laboratory and Tennessee Valley Authority. The current research in his group focuses on fundamental understanding of gas-solid reactions and thermal/chemical transport in complex materials and reactors, characterization of particle flow properties at high temperature, and thermochemical reactors design, development, and demonstration for solar and other renewable energy storage. 

Li’s research work has been published in a variety of top journals, including the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Applied Energy, the Journal of Computational Physics, Physical Review E, and the International Journal of Heat Mass Transfer, etc. The lattice Boltzmann-based computational framework he developed for heat and mass transfer in complex geometry has been widely cited by the broad communities in CFD, heat mass transfer and energy areas. He is serving as vice chair of the Thermal Sciences Technical Committee for the American Society of Thermal Fluid Engineers, and has served as Track Chair for the Energy Storage Track in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Energy Sustainability conferences since 2020.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida, 2010-2013
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, China, 2007-2010
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Central South University, China, 2003-2007

• High-temperature thermal and thermochemical energy storage (TES/TCES)
• Solar receivers/reactors design, modeling and prototype testing
• Thermal-mechanical stress and creep-fatigue analysis of receivers/reactors
• Low-temperature TES/TCES for buildings
• Lattice Boltzmann method for complex flows and heat mass transfer
• Phase field method for advanced manufacturing processes (e.g., additive manufacturing)

• Korba, L. Li*, “Effects of pore scale and conjugate heat transfer on thermal convection in porous media.” J. Fluid Mech. 944, A28 (2022). DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2022.491
• Korba, W. Huang, K. Randhir, J. Petrasch, J. Klausner, N. AuYeung, and L. Li*, “A continuum model for heat and mass transfer in moving-bed reactors for thermochemical energy storage.” Appl. Energy 313, 118842 (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.118842
• Wang, D. Korba, Z. Liu, R. Prabhu, M.W. Priddy, S. Yang, L. Chen, and L. Li*, “Phase-field-lattice Boltzmann method for dendritic growth with melt flow and thermosolutal convection-diffusion.” Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 385, 114026 (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.cma.2021.114026
• Wang, I. Kaur, P. Singh, and L. Li*, “Prediction of effective thermal conductivity of porous lattice structures and validation with additively manufactured metal foams.” Appl. Therm. Eng., 187, 116558 (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.116558
• Randhir*, K. King, N. Rhodes, L. Li, D.W. Hahn, R. Mei, N. AuYeung, and J.F. Klausner, “Magnesium-manganese oxides for high temperature thermochemical energy storage.” J. Energy Storage 21, 599-610 (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2018.11.024
• Li*, R. Mei, and J.F. Klausner, “Lattice Boltzmann models for the convection-diffusion equation: D2Q5 vs D2Q9.” Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 108, 41-62 (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.11.092
• Rhodes, A. Barde, K. Randhir, L. Li, D.W. Hahn, R. Mei, J.F. Klausner, and N. AuYeung*, “Solar thermochemical energy storage through carbonation cycles of SrCO3/SrO cycling supported on SrZrO3.” ChemSusChem 8, 3793-3798 (2015). DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201501023
• Li*, C. Chen, R. Mei, and J.F. Klausner, “Conjugate heat and mass transfer in the lattice Boltzmann equation method.” Phys. Rev. E 89, 043308 (2014). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.89.043308

• NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Track 4 Research Fellow (2021-2023)
• MSU Mechanical Engineering Department Outstanding Junior Faculty Research Award (2019)
• University of Florida MAE Department Outstanding Graduate Research Award (2014)
• Top 1 of the five Most Downloaded Journal of Computational Physics Articles in 2013
• Top 10 Most Downloaded Journal of Heat Transfer Articles in November and December 2011

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2010-present
• American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers, 2019-present
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2011-present

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