26, 28 e 30 luglio 2010, ore 17.00

Aula Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica e Materiali
 
 

Seminari a cura del prof. Jose Manuel Valverde Millan (Università di Siviglia) programmati dal Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica e Materiali nell’ambito degli scambi Erasmus:

 
  

---

SCHEDA RELATORE
 

Dept. of Electronics and Electromagnetism

Faculty of Physics

University of Seville

Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n

41012 Seville, Spain

Phone no.: +34 954550960 - +34 696568043 -

Fax no.: +34 954239434

e-mail: jmillan@us.es

Prof. J M Valverde (Seville, Spain, May 23, 1970) obtained his Bachelor degree in Fundamental Physics in 1993 (Best Academic Record Award) and his PhD degree in Physics in 1997. He is currently Associate Professor at the University of Seville (US), where he imparts diverse undergraduate as well as doctoral courses including: Electricity and Magnetism, Optics, Electromagnetism, Physics and Granular Material Engineering. His teaching activity has been awarded by the University of Seville.

Prof. J M Valverde performs his research work as member of the group “Electrohydrodynamics and Cohesive Granular Media” in close collaboration with Xerox Co. (USA), University Marne-la-Vallée (Marne-la-Vallée, France), Institute for Problems in Mechanical Engineering of Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia), Laboratory of Physics of Condensed Matter (Nice, France), and New Jersey Institute of Technology (USA). This research activity can be considered as highly inter- or multi-disciplinary, lying between the areas of engineering and fundamental physics. A pioneer work of Prof J. M Valverde research was the development of a novel powder tester, which was awarded by Xerox Co. as an outstanding contribution for xerographic toner diagnosis. A relevant fundamental result consisted of the description of boundaries between the flow regimes in fine cohesive powders.

More in detail, main topics of interest have consisted of: i) Study of the interparticle contacts: measurements and modelling of forces between particles using Atomic Force Microscope, and establishment of correlations between measurements of interparticle force and macroscopic measurements of the stress and displacements in granular medium; ii) Avalanches: detailed study of their dynamics and of the onset of the fluidization; establishment of correlations between characteristic properties of the avalanches in granular media, such as their size and critical angle of slope, and interparticle forces; iii) Fluidization: description of fluidization at microstructural and macroscopic level (aggregation of particles, fluctuations, formation of spatial structures and time correlations, sedimentation, expansion, vibration effect); iv) Ultrasound: experimental study of sound transmission in cohesive powders as a non-intrusive method to determine the mechanics of grain-grain contact.

In the last years, Prof. JM Valverde and co-workers have investigated the fluidization behaviour of nanoparticles, with a particular emphasis on nanoparticle aggregation and the effects of external parameters such as vibration, gas viscosity and external electric and magnetic fields. His work on this field is oriented to formulating models directly related to the observed phenomena and integration of knowledge bases in diverse established disciplines, e.g., hydrodynamics, electromagnetism, microscopy, rheology, statistics, etc., into an interdisciplinary area oriented to the special characteristics of nanoparticle-fluid flow. This research has been recognized as highly relevant by IMBER (Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems Research) Project, and companies Evonik-Degussa and ZeroEmissions.

Prof. JM Valverde and co-workers have published around 60 papers in international peer-reviewed journals in the last 10 years related to Chemical Enginnering and Technology, including as more relevant 5 letters in Physical Review Letters. He is also author of 4 patents, 4 research monographs, and has over 60 publications in refereed Proceedings of International Conferences. He has been invited for several presentations in International Conferences, Advanced Schools, and Industries.

Prof. JM Valverde serves as Associate Editor of Journal of Nanoparticle Research, and is member of the Editorial Board of Applied Rheology, International Review of Chemical Engineering Rapid Communications, and Journal of Nanoparticle Research. Likewise he has participated in the Scientific Committee of several International Conferences focused on Chemical Engineering.

Currently Prof. JM Valverde is member of the Working Party on Mechanics of Particulate Solids" (European Federation of Chemical Engineering) and Spanish Nanotechnology network NANOSPAIN. He is coordinator of the Advanced Course “Mechanics of fine cohesive powders” to be held at the International Centre for Mechanical Sciences (CISM).