Dr Frank Bruno

Dr Frank Bruno attained his mechanical engineering degree with first class honours at the University of Adelaide in 1991. In 1992 he joined the University of South Australia and since that time has been involved with research, consultancy and teaching in the field of energy.

His work included the investigation of improvements to conventional natural gas engines through the use of high pressure gas injection, development of a Vehicle and Engine Performance Monitoring and Analysis System (VEPMAS) which also monitors exhaust emissions of vehicles on road in real time, and the development of a combined heating and cooling system for milk cooling and water heating on a dairy farm.

At present he is involved in research on solar air space heating systems, phase change energy storage, low energy air conditioning and heat transfer in buildings.

Sustainable Energy Centre

The Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies (ISST)

• Thermodynamics
• Heat Transfer
• Energy
• Fluid Dynamics

Member, Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH)

Member, International Solar Energy Society (ISES)

Member, Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society (ANZSES)

Member, The Australian Institute of Energy

Ph.D. (Mech. Eng.), University of South Australia, 1997

B.Eng.(Mech).Hons Class 1, University of Adelaide, 1991

• energy efficiency
• heat pumps and refrigeration
• phase change energy storage systems
• renewable energy
• internal combustion engines

Bruno F., Using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) for Space Heating and Cooling in Buildings. EcoLibrium, Journal of Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air conditioning and Heating, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp 26-31, March 2005.

Saman W., Bruno F. & Halawa E., Thermal Performance of PCM Thermal Storage Unit for a Roof Integrated Solar Heating System. Solar Energy, Volume 78, Issue 2, Pages 341-349, 2005.

Bruno F., Managing the Peak Load Contribution of Air conditioners using PCMs, 2005 Energy Sustainability & Power Conference, Perth, 2005.

Halawa E., Bruno F. & Saman W., Numerical Analysis of a PCM Thermal Storage System with Varying Wall Temperature. Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 46, Issues 15-16 , Pages 2592-2604, 2005.

Bruno F. & Saman W., Development of a PCM energy storage unit for solar air heating systems, Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of ANZSES, 2004.

Bruno F., Using Phase Change Materials for Space Heating and Cooling in Buildings. 2004 Environmentally Sustainable Design Conference, Sydney 2004.

Saman W., Halawa E., Belusko M. & Bruno F., Thermal Performance of a Roof Integrated Solar Heating System with PCM Thermal Storage, World Renewable Energy Congress VIII, Denver, Colorado, 2004.

Belusko M., Saman W. & Bruno F. Roof Integrated Solar Heating System with Glazed Collector. Solar Energy, Volume 76, Issues 1-3, Pages 61-69, 2004.

Bruno F. & Saman W., Utilization of PCM fibreboards for space heating. Proceedings of the 2001 International Solar Energy Society Congress, Adelaide, Australia, 25 30 November, 2003.

Belusko M., Saman W.& Bruno F., Roof integrated solar heating system with glazed collector, Proceedings of the 2001 International Solar Energy Society Congress, Adelaide, Australia, 25 30 Nov, 2003.

Saman W. & Bruno F., Integration of Phase Change Storage Systems into Space Heating and Cooling Systems. Proceedings of the First Australasian Workshop on Phase Change Materials for Thermal Storage in Buildings and other applications, The University of Auckland, 2003.

Bruno F. & Saman W., Testing of a PCM energy storage system for space heating. Proceedings of the World Renewable Energy Congress VII, Cologne, Germany, 2002.

Belusko M., Saman W. & Bruno F., Experimental study of a roof integrated solar collector in a solar heating system. Proceedings of the World Renewable Energy Congress VII, Cologne, Germany, 2002.

Bruno F., Simultaneous storage of heating and cooling from a heat pump. Proceedings of The 8th Int. Conf. on Thermal Energy Storage (TerraStock 2000), Stuttgart, Germany, 2000.

Bruno F., Performance evaluation of a heat pump system for simultaneous heating and cooling. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the Australian & New Zealand Solar Energy Society, 29 November-1 December, Brisbane, Australia, pp 359-366, 2000.

Bruno F., Saman W. and DeMaria S., Energy analysis of a novelly-driven high-pressure micro-compressor. Paper 49, Proceedings of World Renewable Energy Congress, Perth, Australia, 1999.

Bruno F. & Saman W. “Heat pump systems for combined cooling and heating”, Journal of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning & Heating, Volume 53, No.3, 1999.

Bruno F. & Saman W., Heat pump systems for combined cooling and heating. Proc. Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating Conference, Sydney, Australia, 1998.

Bruno F. & Saman W., Heat pumps for energy efficient simultaneous heating and cooling. Proceedings of World Renewable Energy Congress 98, Vol. 15-16:4004, pp. 2296-2299, 1998.

Bruno F. & Saman W., Comparative performance of heat pump systems for combined milk cooling and water heating in a farm. Accepted for presentation at the 3rd International Seminar on Heat Pipes, Heat Pumps, Refrigerators. September 15-18, Belarus, 1997.

Bruno F. & Saman W., Energy efficient simultaneous heating and cooling. Proc. 35th Annual Conference of The Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society, Canberra, Australia, 1997.

Bruno F., De Maria S. & Saman W.Y., Computer simulation of a compressor for direct injection gas fuelled engines. Proc. 5th Biennial IANGV International Conference, Malaysia, 1996.

Bruno F., Saman W.Y. & De Maria S., A mathematical model to predict the performance of a novelly-driven compressor for direct injection gas fuelled engines. Proc. 4th World Renewable Energy Congress, Denver, Colorado, 1996.

Bruno F., De Maria S. & Saman W.Y., Analysis of the operation of a high pressure micro-compressor. International Journal of Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 37, No. 10, pp. 1517-1524,1996.

Bruno F., De Maria S. & Saman W.Y., The design of a compressor for direct injection gas fuelled engines. Proc. 5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Automotive Technology and Management, 1995.

De Maria S., Bruno F. & Saman W.Y., Analysis and testing of a high pressure micro-compressor. Paper no. 950058, Proc. SAE International Congress , Detroit, USA, 1995.

Bruno F., De Maria S. & Saman W.Y., A novelly-driven compressor for direct injection gas fuelled engines. Proc. 4th Biennial International Conference on Natural Gas Vehicles, Canada, 1994.

Bruno F., De Maria S. & Saman W.Y., Ideal cycle analysis of a high pressure micro-compressor for direct injection gas fuelled engines. Proc. International Conference on Fluid and Thermal Energy Conversion, Bali, Indonesia, 1994.

De Maria S., Bruno F. & Trowbridge C., VEPMAS: Vehicle and Engine Performance Monitoring and Analysis System. The Fourth Asia-Pacific Conference on Automotive Technology and Management (ASPACON’93), Singapore, March 1993.

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Engineering

• phase change materials
• thermal energy storage systems
• solar air heating systems
• high temperature heat pumps
• milk cooling systems