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Role in the Centre
Dr. Bell holds the position of Lecturer in the School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at QUT. He has a strong cross-disciplinary background in engineering, chemistry and materials science. In his teaching and service roles, Dr. Bell has taught into many areas of the mechanical and process engineering degrees, particularly in mechanics of materials and control, and is currently the Subject Area Coordinator for the Mechanical Engineering Degree.
Recently Dr. Bell has been developing materials durability testing techniques for the unique challenges presented by CSP (Concentrated Solar Thermal Power) technology. The materials used in CSP will experience damage from thermally induced stresses and strains whilst also being exposed to aggressive environments such as molten salts, sodium and high temperatures. Therefore, the service life of these materials will be affected by a combination of mechanical effects such as creep and fatigue; surface interactions such as corrosion, dealloying and carburization; and thermal aging affects such as the development of deleterious phases in the bulk alloy. Many of these are understood individually, but the combination of all these affects is unique to CSP. The materials testing techniques being developed by Dr. Bell will help de-risk the advancement of CSP by providing useful tools and information for design, service life prediction, condition monitoring, and operation and maintenance of these systems.
Short Biography
Stuart Bell completed a Bachelor of Engineering (Mech) (Hons) at Queensland University of Technology in 2006 and also completed a Doctorate of Philosophy at the same institution
His Doctorate focused on photocatalytic water splitting and aimed at developing engineering solutions for this chemistry based topic by investigating how concentrated solar energy could facilitate hydrogen production using a photocatalytic water splitting process.
Dr. Bell has been working on materials durability and compatibility for Concentrated Solar Thermal Power (CSP) with the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative (ASTRI) since 2014. He has undertaken research on thermal energy storage and molten salt corrosion, areas which involve a complex combination of engineering, chemistry, metallurgy and materials science.
Selected Publications
“Corrosion mechanisms in molten salt thermal energy storage for concentrating solar power”. Bell, S., Steinberg, T., & Will, G. (2019). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 114, 109328.
“Damage analysis of 601 nickel superalloy in eutectic Na2CO3/NaCl molten salt under isothermal and thermal cycling conditions.” Bell, S., K. Lippiatt, Ted Steinberg, and Geoffrey Will. Solar Energy 191 (2019): 637-646.
“An improved technique for molten salt corrosion sample preparation”. Lippiatt, K., Bell, S., Ong, T. C., East, C., McAuley, D., Will, G., & Steinberg, T. (2021). Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 226, 111057.
“Aggressive corrosion of C-276 nickel superalloy in chloride/sulphate eutectic salt”. Bell, S., Rhamdhani, M. A., Steinberg, T., & Will, G. (2021). Solar Energy, 227, 557-567.
“Investigation of the corrosion of electro-less nickel-plated alloys in molten salt and its effect on phase change properties for energy storage applications”. Ong, T. C., Sarvghad, M., Lippiatt, K., Bell, S., Will, G., & Steinberg, T. A. (2022). Solar Energy, 236, 512-521.