Dr Renaldi Renaldi PhD

Dr Renaldi Renaldi

School of Chemical Engineering
Associate Professor in Emerging Cooling Technologies

Contact details

Email
r.renaldi@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Chemical Engineering
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Renaldi Renaldi is an Associate Professor in Emerging Cooling Technologies.

Renaldi is a mechanical engineer by training and completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh. He continued his research as a postdoctoral researcher at Newcastle University and the University of Oxford. Before joining the University of Birmingham, he was a lecturer at Cranfield University.

He has over 15 years of research experience in thermal energy (heating and cooling), solar energy, energy efficiency, and energy systems integration.

His current research is focused on the decarbonisation of cooling technologies towards achieving a sustainable cooling future.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Energy Systems, University of Edinburgh, UK, 2018
  • MSc in Sustainable Energy Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, NL, 2009

Biography

Dr Renaldi Renaldi has a background in mechanical engineering, thermal energy, and energy systems research. He received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2018. His PhD research focused on the modelling and optimisation of energy systems with thermal energy storage. He was a recipient of the John Moyes Lessells Travel Scholarships from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

After his PhD, he took up his first postdoctoral post at the Sir Joseph Swan Centre for Energy Research, Newcastle University. At Newcastle, Renaldi was working in the EPSRC Centre for Energy Systems Integration project. He then joined the University of Oxford as a Research Associate in Sustainable Cooling in the Oxford Martin School Programme on the Future of Cooling. He was investigating the role of active cooling technologies in achieving sustainable cooling.

Before joining the University of Birmingham in 2024, Renaldi was a Lecturer in Thermal Engineering at Cranfield University. At Cranfield, he led MSc modules on industrial thermal operations and district heating and supervised MSc research projects. He was the lead investigator in Innovate UK-funded Energy Catalyst project, Sustainable Cooling Hub for Small-scale Fisheries in Indonesia, investigating affordable, renewable-based cooling solutions in cold-chain and space cooling applications.

Postgraduate supervision

I am currently recruiting for PhD research students in the following research areas:

  • Sustainable cooling
  • Alternative cooling technologies
  • District heating and cooling
  • Cold chain applications

Please get in contact if you are interested in pursuing a PhD in one of these topics.

Research

Alternative cooling technologies

  • Development of non-vapour compression cooling technologies.
  • Hybrid active cooling technologies.
  • Systems integration of active and passive cooling.

Cooling in energy systems

  • Integration of cooling in wider energy systems.
  • Cooling systems optimisation.
  • District heating and cooling.

Cold chain applications

  • Decarbonising cold chain technologies.
  • Sustainable and circular cooling hub.
  • Cold chain application in fisheries.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Lyden, A, Alene, S, Connor, P, Renaldi, R & Watson, S 2024, 'Impact of locational pricing on the roll out of heat pumps in the UK', Energy Policy, vol. 187, 114043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114043

Lizana, J, Halloran, CE, Wheeler, S, Amghar, N, Renaldi, R, Killendahl, M, Perez-Maqueda, LA, McCulloch, M & Chacartegui, R 2023, 'A national data-based energy modelling to identify optimal heat storage capacity to support heating electrification', Energy, vol. 262, 125298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.125298

Trotter, PA, Becker, T, Renaldi, R, Wang, X, Khosla, R & Walther, G 2023, 'The role of supply chains for the sustainability transformation of global food systems: A large‐scale, systematic review of food cold chains', Journal of Industrial Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13445

Lizana, J, López-Cabeza, VP, Renaldi, R, Diz-Mellado, E, Rivera-Gómez, C & Galán-Marín, C 2022, 'Integrating courtyard microclimate in building performance to mitigate extreme urban heat impacts', Sustainable Cities and Society, vol. 78, 103590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103590

Lizana, J, Miranda, ND, Gross, L, Mazzone, A, Cohen, F, Palafox-Alcantar, G, Fahr, P, Jani, A, Renaldi, R, McCulloch, M & Khosla, R 2022, 'Overcoming the incumbency and barriers to sustainable cooling', Buildings and Cities, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1075-1097. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.255

Renaldi, R, Hall, R, Jamasb, T & Roskilly, AP 2021, 'Experience rates of low-carbon domestic heating technologies in the United Kingdom', Energy Policy, vol. 156, 112387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112387

Renaldi, R, Miranda, ND, Khosla, R & McCulloch, MD 2021, 'Patent landscape of not-in-kind active cooling technologies between 1998 and 2017', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 296, 126507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126507

Renaldi, R & Friedrich, D 2019, 'Techno-economic analysis of a solar district heating system with seasonal thermal storage in the UK', Applied Energy, vol. 236, pp. 388-400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.11.030

Lizana, J, Friedrich, D, Renaldi, R & Chacartegui, R 2018, 'Energy flexible building through smart demand-side management and latent heat storage', Applied Energy, vol. 230, pp. 471-485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.08.065

Renaldi, R, Kiprakis, A & Friedrich, D 2017, 'An optimisation framework for thermal energy storage integration in a residential heat pump heating system', Applied Energy, vol. 186, pp. 520-529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.02.067

Renaldi, R & Friedrich, D 2017, 'Multiple time grids in operational optimisation of energy systems with short- and long-term thermal energy storage', Energy, vol. 133, pp. 784-795. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.05.120

Conference article

Mehmood, S, Usman, M, Santika, WG & Renaldi, R 2024, 'Numerical model of solar-driven cold storage for small-scale fisheries', Energy Proceedings, vol. 38. https://doi.org/10.46855/energy-proceedings-10890

Review article

Khosla, R, Renaldi, R, Mazzone, A, Mcelroy, C & Palafox-Alcantar, G 2022, 'Sustainable Cooling in a Warming World: Technologies, Cultures, and Circularity', Annual Review of Environment and Resources, vol. 47, pp. 449-478. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-120420-085027

Miranda, ND, Renaldi, R, Khosla, R & McCulloch, MD 2021, 'Bibliometric analysis and landscape of actors in passive cooling research', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 149, 111406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111406

Khosla, R, Miranda, ND, Trotter, PA, Mazzone, A, Renaldi, R, McElroy, C, Cohen, F, Jani, A, Perera-Salazar, R & McCulloch, M 2021, 'Cooling for sustainable development', Nature Sustainability, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 201-208. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00627-w

View all publications in research portal