Luke Venstrom, Ph.D.

Luke Venstrom profile

Luke Venstrom, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering luke.venstrom@valpo.edu 219.464.5498 Gellersen Hall, Room 203

Education

B.S.- Valparaiso University 
M.S. – University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Ph.D. – University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Courses Taught
  • Heat Power 
  • Heat Power Laboratory
  • Introduction to Renewable Energy
  • Mechanical Measurements
  • Mechanical Measurements Laboratory
  • Technical Writing for Mechanical Engineers
Research Interests
  • Concentrated Solar Power
  • Energy Storage
  • Heterogeneous Chemical Kinetics
  • Radiative Heat Transfer in Participating Media
  • Reactor Engineering
  • Renewable Energy
  • Solar Thermochemistry
Professional Affiliations
  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
  • The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
Publications
  • Venstrom, L. J., Hilsen, P., and Davidson, J. H., 2018, “Heterogeneous Oxidation of Zinc Vapor by Steam and Mixtures of Steam and Carbon Dioxide, Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 183, 223-230
  • Arloff, W. Venstrom, L. J., and Schmitt, K., 2018, “A Parameter Estimation Method for Stiff Ordinary Differential Equations Using Particle Swarm Optimization,” International Journal of Computing Science and Mathematics, Accepted for publication.
  •  Korenko, M., Larson, C., Blood, K., Palumbo, R., Nudehi, S., Diver, R., Blood, D., Šimko, F., and Venstrom, L. J., 2017, “Technical and Economic Evaluation of a Solar Thermal MgO Electrolysis Process for Magnesium Production,”Energy, Vol. 135, 182-194.
  • Leonard, N., Korenko, M., Larson, C., Blood, K., Venstrom, L. J., Nudehi, S., Duncan, G. S., Diver, R., Šimko, F., Priscak, J., Schoer, J., Kissinger, P. T., and Palumbo, R., 2016, “The Thermal Electrolytic Production of Mg from MgO: A discussion of the electrochemical reaction kinetics and requisite mass transport processes,” Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 148, 155-169.
  • Venstrom, L. J., De Smith, R. M., Bala Chandran, R., Boman, D. B., Krenzke, P. T., and Davidson, J. H., 2015, “Applicability of an Equilibrium Model to Predict the Conversion of CO2 to CO via the Reduction and Oxidation of a Fixed Bed of Cerium Dioxide,” Energy and Fuels, Vol. 29, No. 12, 8168-8177.
  • Bader, R., Chandran, R. B., Venstrom, L. J., Sedler, S. J., Krenzke, P. T., De Smith, R. M., Banerjee, A., Chase, T. R., Davidson, J. H., and Lipiński, W., 2015, “Design of a Solar Reactor to Split CO2 Via Isothermal Redox Cycling of Ceria,”ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 137, No. 3, 031007 (10 pp.).
  • Gibbons, W.T., Venstrom, L.J., De Smith, R.M., Davidson, J.H., and Jackson, G.S., 2014, “Ceria-based Electrospun Fibers for Renewable Fuel Production via Two-Step Thermal Redox Cycles for Carbon Dioxide Splitting,” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 16, 14271-14280.
  • Venstrom, L.J., De Smith, R.M., Hao, Y., Haile, S.M., and Davidson, J.H., 2014, “Efficient Splitting of CO2 in an Isothermal Redox Cycle Based on Ceria,” Energy and Fuels, Vol. 28, No. 4, 2732-2742.
  • Bader, R., Venstrom, L.J., Davidson, J.H., and Lipiński, W., 2013, “Thermodynamic Analysis of Isothermal Redox Cycling of Ceria for Solar Fuel Production,” Energy and Fuels, Vol. 27, 5533-5544.
  • Venstrom, L.J. and Davidson, J.H., 2013, “The Kinetics of the Heterogeneous Oxidation of Zinc Vapor by Carbon Dioxide,” Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 93, 163-172.
  • Lipiński, W., Davidson, J.H., Haussener, S., Klausner, J.F., Mehdizadeh, A.M., Petrasch, J., Steinfeld, A., and Venstrom, L., 2013, “Review of Heat Transfer Research for Solar Thermochemical Applications, ASME Journal of Thermal Science and Engineering Applications, Vol. 5, 021005 (14 pp.).
  • Rudisill, S., Venstrom, L.J., Petkovich, N., Quan, T., Hein, N., Boman, D.B., Davidson, J.H., and Stein, A., 2013, “Enhanced Oxidation Kinetics in Thermochemical Cycling of CeO2 Through Templated Porosity,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 117, 1692-1700.
  • Venstrom, L.J., Petkovich, N., Rudisill, S., Stein, A., and Davidson, J.H., 2012, “The Effects of Morphology on the Oxidation of Ceria by Water and Carbon Dioxide,” ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 134, 011005 (8 pp.).
  • Petkovich, N.D., Rudisill, S.G., Venstrom, L.J., Boman, D.B., Davidson, J.H., and Stein, A., 2011, “Control of Heterogeneity in Nanostructured Ce1-xZrxO2 Binary Oxides for Enhanced Thermal Stability and Water Splitting Activity,”Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Vol. 115, 21022-21033.
  • Venstrom, L.J. and Davidson, J.H., 2010, “Splitting Water and Carbon Dioxide via the Heterogeneous Oxidation of Zinc Vapor: Thermodynamic Considerations,” ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 133, 011017 (8 pp.).
  • Abu Hamed, T., Venstrom, L., Alshare, A., Brülhart, M., and Davidson, J.H., 2009, “Study of a Quench Device for the Synthesis and Hydrolysis of Zn Nanoparticles: Modeling and Experiments,” ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 131, 031018 (9 pp.).
  • Venstrom, L., Krueger, K., Leonard, N., Tomlinson, B., Duncan, S., and Palumbo, R.D., 2009, “Solar Thermal Electrolysis Process for the Production of Zn from ZnO: An Ionic Conductivity Study,” ASME Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, Vol. 131, 031005 (9 pp.).
  • Palumbo, R., Korenko, M., Larson, C., Venstrom, L. J., Duncan, S., Nudehi, S., Schoer, J., Toberman, J., Prusinski, W., Johnson, D., Robbinson, B., Barkely, S., Warren, K., Diver, R., Šimko, F., Boča, M., 2015, “Thermal Electrolytic Production of Mg from MgO: Reflections on Commercial Viability”, 144th Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society TMS2015, March 15-19, 2015, Orlando, FL.
  • Davidson, J. H., Bala-Chandran, R., Chase, T. R., Hathaway, B. J., Krenzke, P. T., Sedler, S., Venstrom, L. J., 2015, “SUNgas: Opportunities and Challenges for Solar Thermochemical Fuels”, Third Southern African Solar Energy Conference SASEC2015, May 11-May 13, 2015, Kruger National Park, South Africa.
  • Duncan, G. S., Nudehi, S. N., Palumbo, R. D., Blood, D., and Venstrom, L. J., 2015, “Student Development of a Five kW Solar Furnace for Solar Thermal Chemistry Research”, 122nd ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, June 14-17, 2015, Seattle, WA.
  • Duncan, G. S., Nudehi, S., Palumbo, R., and Venstrom, L. J., 2014, “A High-Flux Solar Furnace for Undergraduate Engineering Education and High-Temperature Thermochemistry Research”, ASME 2014 8th International Conference on Energy Sustainability & 12th Fuel Cell Science Engineering and Technology Conference, ESFuelCell2014, June 30-July 2, 2014, Boston, MA, USA.
  • Bader, R., Venstrom, L.J., Chandran, R.B., Lapp, J., Davidson, J. H., and Lipiński, W., “Solar Syngas Production via Isothermal Nonstoichiometric Redox Cycling of Ceria with Heat Recovery,” Proceedings of the 245th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, New Orleans, April 7­-11, 2013.
  • Petkovich, N.D., Rudisill, S.G., Venstrom, L.J., Quan, T., Hein, N.M., Boman, D.B., Davidson, J.H., and Stein, A., “Full Thermochemical Cycling of Macroporous Ceria-based Materials for the Production of CO from CO2,” Proceedings of the 244th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, Washington D.C., August, 2012.
  • Venstrom, L.J. and Davidson, J.H., 2012, “Rapid Production of Hydrogen and Carbon Monoxide via the Heterogeneous Oxidation of Zn(g),” Proceedings of the ASME 6th International Conference on Energy Sustainability, San Diego, CA, July 23–26, 2012.
  • Haltiwanger, J.F., Venstrom, L.J., and Davidson, J.H., 2009, “A Discussion of the Measurement of Zn to ZnO Conversion in Aerosol Reactors,” Proceedings of the ASME 3rd International Conference on Energy Sustainability, Vol. 2, 483-489.
  • Alshare, A., Abu Hamed, T., Brülhart, M., Venstrom, L., and Davidson, J.H., 2008, “Study of a Quench Device for the Synthesis and Hydrolysis of Zn Nanoparticles: Modeling and Experiments,” Proceedings of the ASME 2ndInternational Conference on Energy Sustainability, Vol. 2, 345-353.