Combining practical engineering skills with research excellence, Dr Amir Tarighaleslami is helping industrial plants use heat more efficiently and reduce emissions.

Our processing industries use around 214 quadrillion joules of heat per year, with around 65% supplied by fossil fuels. Despite dwindling fuel resources and pressure to reduce related greenhouse gas emissions, this valuable heat is not always fully utilised in large-scale processing plants. Dr Tarighaleslami has refined targets for plant utilities – both where process temperatures remain constant and where they change – and found ways to optimise their total cost through temperature selection. He has also found novel ways to improve the efficiency of heat transfer systems, including the use of nanofluids instead of oils or water. His innovations have improved energy efficiency in many food and material processing plants both in New Zealand and internationally.

Dr. Amir Tarighaleslami

Beating heat loss

Datamars Engineering Science Award

Combining practical engineering skills with research excellence, Dr Amir Tarighaleslami is helping industrial plants use heat more efficiently and reduce emissions.

Our processing industries use around 214 quadrillion joules of heat per year, with around 65% supplied by fossil fuels. Despite dwindling fuel resources and pressure to reduce related greenhouse gas emissions, this valuable heat is not always fully utilised in large-scale processing plants. Dr Tarighaleslami has refined targets for plant utilities – both where process temperatures remain constant and where they change – and found ways to optimise their total cost through temperature selection. He has also found novel ways to improve the efficiency of heat transfer systems, including the use of nanofluids instead of oils or water. His innovations have improved energy efficiency in many food and material processing plants both in New Zealand and internationally.