Dr Roger Moss

MA (Cantab) DPhil (Oxon) PGCE CEng FIMechE

Senior Research Fellow, Sustainable Thermal Energy Group, School of Engineering D100.

Mobile

07854 675742

Research:

(1) Simulation of an ammonia/salt resorption heat pump.

An EPSRC-funded project as part of Mission Innovation Challenge #7. Paper https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cles.2023.100100 . 8000 lines of Matlab code.

A schematic diagram of a resorption heat pump.

Cycle diagram

Coefficient of performance and output power curves.

Simulation viewer

(2) Optimisation of domestic hot water systems

Delay in hot water arriving at taps

Time history of water temperature along the pipe, after flow starts

Startup sequence for a minimally-powered recirculation loop.

(3) A thermal cycling rig.

Heat exchanger in the cycling rig Cycling rig pipework and expansion vessels

This experiment demonstrated the ability of halide salts to adsorb and desorb ammonia repeatedly over thousands of thermal cycles.

6 expanded natural graphite samples were held in the sampling tubes (clamped between the heat exchanger hot and cold sides, left image) and impregnated with barium chloride, calcium chloride and manganese chloride. Pressure transducers (right image) recorded the amount of ammonia desorbed in each cycle. A producer/consumer LabView program was written to control the flow from hot and cold baths (using pneumatic valves) and collect pressure and temperature data via an NI CompactDAQ system, with the data saved directly to Matlab binary files.

The rig was designed in Fusion 360: the four layers in the heat exchanger stack were CNC milled from the F360 files.

(4) Development of an evacuated solar thermal collector (2013-18)

This EPSRC-funded project was organised by Dr Stan Shire in collaboration with the Universities of Loughborough and Ulster.

A number of solar collectors have been built and tested under a custom-made solar simulator.

Hydroforming rig Weld leak testing

A hydro-forming rig was designed and built to form pairs of 316 stainless steel panels (oil pressure 25 MPa). The panels were then TIG welded to make the collector assembly. The welds were leak tested using 1 bar helium in a water flume (right image).

The first evacuated flat plate collector Testing

The efficiency increases significantly when the enclosure is evacuated to a pressure below 0.1 Pa.

Efficiency summary graph

(5) An off-grid micro-hydro system (personal project). This will save 7000 kg CO₂ emissions each year.

Water extraction system

Turbine hut

Turbine assembly in Fusion 360.

Fusion 360 model of the turbines (one wet weather, one dry weather). All sheet and tube components were laser-cut from the F360 model prior to welding. The sump tank is a hot air welded fabrication in PPRC (polypropylene random copolymer). A fibre-optic link was buried beside the penstock for telemetry between extraction point, cottage and turbines.

Teaching:

Group project supervision 2018-19

Design, build and test components for a micro-hydro system

6 students worked on 3 areas: designing and building a spear valve, power electronics and control system.

Spear valve Spear valve test

Spear valve assembly plus motor drive; spear valve on test. The central spear allows the turbine flow to be adjusted, by varying the area, without any loss of total pressure.

Power and control system schematic

The power and control system general arrangement.

System overview

The full control system block diagram

Inverter test rig

Student-built inverter on test.

Group project supervision 2024-25

Design and build a remotely operated submarine to pass inside a micro-hydro penstock and detect leaks.

Project specification: Group project 2024-25.
Students: 3 from the Mechanical Stream, 3 from Systems, 1 from Electronics and 1 from Computer Science.

ROV plus operator

Module leader for Planar Structures 2014-16

Strength of materials, pressure vessels, rotating disks, structural analysis, dynamic forces and engine balancing.

RWM Matlab app for teaching rotating phasor concepts

Clicking "animate" makes the crankshaft and phasor diagrams rotate.

Publications

(also on Google Scholar)

Refereed Journal papers

Moss, R.W., and Oldfield, M.L.G., 1994, Effect of Free-stream Turbulence on Flat-Plate Heat Flux Signals: Spectra and Eddy Transport Velocities. ASME Journal of Turbomachinery, vol 118, No. 3, p.461 July 1996 (also conference paper ASME 94 GT 205).
Moss, R.W., Ainsworth, R.W., and Garside, T., Effects Of Rotation On Blade Surface Heat Transfer: An Experimental Investigation. ASME Journal of Turbomachinery vol 120 No. 3, p541, July 1998 (also conference paper ASME 97 GT 188).
Ainsworth, R.W., Miller, R.J., Moss, R.W. and Thorpe, S.J., Unsteady Pressure Measurement, Meas. Sci. Technol. 11 (2000) 1055-1076.
Miller, R.J., Moss, R.W.; Ainsworth, R.W.; Harvey, N.W., Time-resolved vane-rotor-vane interaction in a transonic one-and-a-half stage turbine. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy, v 215, n 6, 2001, p 675-685
Miller, R.J., Moss, R.W., Ainsworth, R.W. and Horwood, C.K., Time-Resolved Vane-Rotor Interaction in a High Pressure Turbine Stage. ASME Journal of Turbomachinery, vol. 125 No.1, Jan 2003.
Miller, R. J., Moss, R. W., Ainsworth, R. W. and Harvey, N.W. (2002). Wake, Shock and Potential Field Interactions in a 1.5 Stage Turbine, ASME Journal of Turbomachinery, vol. 125 No.1, Jan 2003, Parts I and II.
Payne, S.J., Ainsworth, R.W., Miller, R.J., Moss, R.W. and Harvey, N.H., Unsteady Loss in a High Pressure Turbine Stage. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, Volume 24, Issue 5, October 2003, pp. 698-708.
Miller, R.J., Moss. R.W., Ainsworth, R.W. and Harvey, N.H., The Effect of an Upstream Turbine on a Low Aspect Ratio Vane, ASME GT2004-54017, accepted for publication in the Journal of Turbomachinery
S.J. Payne, R.W. Ainsworth, R.J. Miller, R.W. Moss and N.W. Harvey, Unsteady loss in a high pressure turbine stage: Interaction effects International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, Volume 26, Issue 5, October 2005, Pages 695-708
Moss, R.W., Roskilly, A.P and Nanda, S.K., A reciprocating Joule cycle engine for domestic CHP systems. Applied Energy 80 (2005) 169-185, also on www.sciencedirect.com
Moss, R.W., Shire, G.S.F., Henshall, P., Eames, P.C., Arya, F. and Hyde, T, Optimal passage size for solar collector microchannel and tube-on-plate absorbers. Solar Energy (2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2017.05.030Link opens in a new window

Moss R W, Henshall P, Arya F, Shire G, Hyde T, Eames P, (2018). Performance and operational effectiveness of evacuated flat plate solar collectors compared with conventional thermal, PVT and PV panels. Applied Energy, Volume 216, April 2018, 588–601, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.01.001
Moss R.W., Henshall, P., Arya, F., Shire, G.S.F, Eames, P.C. and Hyde, T., Simulator testing of evacuated flat plate solar collectors for industrial heat and building integration, Solar Energy, Volume 164, April 2018, 109-118, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.02.004
Moss R.W., Shire, G.S.F., Eames, P.C., Henshall, P., Hyde, T., Arya, F., (2018). Design and commissioning of a virtual image solar simulator for testing thermal collectors. Solar Energy, Volume 159, Jan 2018, 234-242, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2017.10.044
R. W. Moss, G.S.F. Shire, P. Henshall, P.C.Eames, F.Arya and T. Hyde., Design and fabrication of a hydroformed absorber for an evacuated flat plate solar collector. Applied Thermal Engineering 138 (2018) 456-464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.04.033
Roger Moss, Stan Shire, Paul Henshall, Farid Arya, Phil Eames, Trevor Hyde. Performance of evacuated flat plate solar thermal collectors. Thermal Science and Engineering Progress 8 (2018) pp296-306 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsep.2018.09.003
R.W. Moss and R.E. Critoph. Optimisation of a recirculating domestic hot water system to minimise
wait time and heat loss. Energy and Buildings 260 (2022) 111850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.111850
R.W. Moss, G.H. Atkinson, S.J. Metcalf, R.E. Critoph. Performance characterisation and design considerations for a domestic ammonia/salt resorption heat pump. Cleaner Energy Systems 7 (2024) 100100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cles.2023.100100
Shire, G. S. F., Moss, R. W., Henshall, P., Arya, F., Eames, P. C., and Hyde, T., 2016, Development of an Efficient Low- and Medium-Temperature Vacuum Flat-Plate Solar Thermal Collector. Renewable Energy in the Service of Mankind, Vol. II, Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 859–866
Henshall, P., Eames, P., Moss, R., Shire, S., Arya, F. and Hyde, T. Experimental measurements of evacuated enclosure thermal insulation effectiveness for vacuum flat plate solar thermal collectors. Iinternational Journal of Energy and Power Engineering, Vol. 10 No. 6, 2016.
Farid Arya, Roger Moss, Trevor Hyde, Stan Shire, Paul Henshall, Philip Eames. Vacuum enclosures for solar thermal panels Part 1: Fabrication and hot-box testing. Solar Energy volume 174, November 2018, Pages 1212-1223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.10.064Link opens in a new window
Farid Arya, Roger Moss, Trevor Hyde, Stan Shire, Paul Henshall, Philip Eames. Vacuum enclosures for solar thermal panels Part 2: Transient testing with an uncooled absorber plate. Solar Energy volume 174, November 2018, Pages 1224-1236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.10.063Link opens in a new window

Refereed Conference Papers

Moss, R.W., and Oldfield, M.L.G., 1991, Measurements of Hot Combustor Turbulence Spectra. ASME 91-GT-351
Moss, R.W., and Oldfield, M.L.G., 1992, Measurements of the Effect of Freestream Turbulence Length Scale on Heat Transfer. ASME 92-GT-244
Garside, T., Moss, R.W., Ainsworth, R.W., Dancer, S.N. and Rose, M.G., Heat Transfer to Rotating Turbine Blades in a Flow Undisturbed by Wakes. ASME 94 GT 94.
Moss, R.W., Ainsworth, R.W., Sheldrake, C.D. and Miller, R., The Unsteady Pressure Field Over A Turbine Blade Surface: Visualisation And Interpretation Of Experimental Data. ASME 97-GT-474
Miller, R. J., Moss, R. W., Ainsworth, R. W. and Harvey, N.W. (2001), Time-Resolved Vane-Rotor-Vane Interaction in a Transonic One and a Half Stage Turbine. 4th European Conference of Turbomachinery Fluid Dynamics and Thermodynamics, ATI-CST-081/01, pages 937 - 949.
Miller, R.J., Moss, R.W., Ainsworth, R.W. and Harvey, N.H., The Development of Turbine Exit Flow in a Swan-Necked Inter-Stage Diffuser, ASME 2003-GT-38174
Moss, R.W. and Shire, G.S.F, Design and Performance of Evacuated Solar Collector Microchannel Plates, EuroSun 2014, http://proceedings.ises.org/paper/eurosun2014/eurosun2014-0039-Moss.pdfLink opens in a new window

Unrefereed conference papers

Moss, R.W., and Oldfield, M.L.G., 1990, Comparisons between Turbulence Spectra Measured with Fast Response Pressure Transducers and Hot Wires. Symposium on Aerodynamic Measuring Techniques for Transonic and Supersonic Flow in Cascades and Turbomachines, VKI.
Moss, R.W. and Ainsworth, R.W., A Transient Measuring Technique for Heat Transfer to Metallic Aerofoils, Eurotherm 32, Oxford, July 1993.
Moss, R.W., Sheldrake, C.D., Ainsworth, R.W., Smith, A.D. and Dancer, S.N. Unsteady Pressure and Heat Transfer Measurements on a Rotating Blade Surface in a Transient Flow Facility. AGARD CP571 “Loss Mechanisms and Unsteady Flow in Turbomachinery”, 85th PEP Symposium, May 1995.

Patents, Thesis and Reports

Coney, M.H., Richardson, D.A. and Moss, R.W., Internal Cooling Air Control. UK patent GB2165315 granted 31st December 1987; subsequently patented in Germany, France and the USA as DE3534905, FR2571428 and US4604031.
LaGraff, Passaro, Oldfield, Biagioni, Moss and Battelle, Measurement of Turbulent Pressure and Temperature Fluctuations in a Gas Turbine Combustor. NASA Final Report, Grant NAG3-2419, June 2003
Moss, R.W., The effects of turbulence length scale on heat transfer (DPhil thesis), University of Oxford 1992, http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:da82e72d-f91b-4fd7-a773-539cba4681e4

Resources for students:

Matlab for projects and assignments: a brief guideLink opens in a new window.

User guideLink opens in a new window for my engine balancing applet.

A simple speed calculatorLink opens in a new window to help pick rpm and feed rate for drill bits and endmills in Fusion 360 (n.b. provided as-is; no guarantees)..