Staff

profile

Current Position

Full Professor, Chair of Propulsion and Power

Biography

Degrees

M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, 1991.
M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, USA, 1995.
Ph.D. in Energy Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, 1996.

Work Experience

2013-current, Full Professor, Propulsion and Power, TU Delft, The Netherlands.
2002-2013, Associate Professor, Renewable Energy Systems, TU Delft, The Netherlands.
2005-2006, Interim Head of the Energy Technology Section, TU Delft, The Netherlands.
1997-2002, Assistant Professor, Fluid Machinery, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
1996-2003, Founder and Partner of AustEx - Exergy Management s.r.l., Milano, Italy.
1995, Research Assistant, Engineering Thermodynamics, Stanford University, California.
1991-1996, Energy Engineering consultant, Studio Tecnico SPELL, Milano, Italy.

Other Positions and Memberships

Associate Editor, ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power (July 2013 - July 2015)
Editor, Special JEGTP 2013 Issue on ORC Power Systems
Chairman, ASME International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) board (2016-2017)
Vice Chairman, ASME International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) board (2014-2015)
Chairman, ORC Power Systems committee of the IGTI (2012-2015)
Chairman, Editorial Board of the Knowledge Center of Organic Rankine Cycle Technology (KCORC)
Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) since 2000
Chairman, ORC 2011 International Seminar
Chairman, ASME ORC 2013 Conference
Honorary Chairman, ASME ORC 2015 Conference

Publications List (Selected or Complete)

SELECTED ARTICLES

P. Colonna, E. Casati, C. Trapp, T. Mathijssen, J. Larjola, T. Turunen-Saaresti, and A. Uusitalo. Organic Rankine cycle power systems: From the concept to current technology, applications, and an outlook to the future. J. Eng. Gas Turb. Power, 137(10):100801–100820, 2015. DOI

F. Casella and P. Colonna. Dynamic modeling of IGCC power plants. Appl. Therm. Eng., 35:91–111, 2012. DOI

P. Colonna, J. Harinck, S. Rebay, and A. Guardone. Real-gas effects in organic Rankine cycle turbine nozzles. J. Propul. Power, 24(2):282–294, 2008. DOI

C. Zamfirescu, A. Guardone, and P. Colonna. Admissibility region for rarefaction shock waves in dense gases. J. Fluid Mech., 599:363–381, 2008. DOI

P. Colonna and H. van Putten. Dynamic modeling of steam power cycles. Part I – modeling paradigm and validation. Appl. Therm. Eng., 27(2–3):467–480, 2007. DOI

P. Colonna and A. Guardone. Molecular interpretation of nonclassical gas dynamics of dense vapors under the van der Waals model. Phys. Fluids, 18(5):056101–1–14, 2006. DOI

P. Colonna, N. R. Nannan, A. Guardone, and E. W. Lemmon. Multiparameter equations of state for selected siloxanes. Fluid Phase Equilib., 244:193–211, 2006. DOI

Google Scholar

Hobbies

Music, literature, photography, gardening, skiing, trekking and sailing

Expertise

Technologies

Organic Rankine Cycle Power Systems

Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle Power Systems

Unconventional Turbomachinery

Methods

Automated turbomachinery fluid dynamic design
(Dynamic) system modeling and simulation
Integrated process/components design optimization

Science

Non Ideal Compressible Fluid Dynamics (NICFD)
Thermodynamic Properties of Pure Fluids and Mixtures

A bit about myself

I was interviewed by our marketing and information department when I was appointed professor: the transcript of the interview is displayed on the TU Delft Aerospace Engineering website here

Projects

Current Projects:

CC-Powertrain
Mini-ORC turbogenerator for 0-energy buildings
BZT fluids for small power systems
CC-engine for next-generation aircraft
Mini-turbopropeller for long-range civil UAV

Awards

1995, Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship, Milano, Italy.
The grant funded the Master studies at Stanford University.

1996, Italian Ministry of the University and Scientific research, post-doctoral fellowship, Milano, Italy.

2004, NWO VIDI grant, personal grant from the Dutch Science Foundation for the project. BZT Fluids for energy conversion applications.

2004, TU Delft grant for visiting scholars.
The grant funded a 6 months visit of Dr. A. Guardone from Politecnico di Milano, Italy.

2008, TU Delft grant for visiting scholars.
The grant funded a one-year visit of Prof. S. Rebay of the University of Brescia, Italy.

2008, Best Paper Award of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Conference and Exhibition (IMECE), 11-15 Nov., Seattle, WA, 2007.

2009-2010, Best lecturer award of the Master programs "Sustainable Processes and Energy technologies" and "Solid and Fluid Mechanics" of the Delft University of Technology.

2011-2012, Best lecturer award of the Master programs "Sustainable Processes and Energy technologies" and "Solid and Fluid Mechanics" of the Delft University of Technology.

Supervision of Doctoral Students

Prof. Dr. Paolo Silva (Associate Professor, Politecnico di Milano)
Dr. Falk Ahnert (Head of Global Development Support, Wintershall)
Dr. Hans van Putten (Senior Researcher/Advisor, Project Manager at Deltares)
Dr. Ryan Nannan (Dean of the Mech. Eng. Dept., Anton De Kom University)
Dr. John Harinck (Managing Director, Gensos BV, CTO Asimptote BV)
Dr. Emiliano Casati (PostDoc researcher, ETH Zurich, PREC group, Emiliano is one of the recipient of the European individual fellowship Marie S. Curie-Global)
Dr. Carsten Trapp (Analyst, MKonline GmbH – Markedskraft ASA)
Dr. Enrico Rinaldi (PostDoc researcher, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, Linné FLOW Centre)
Dr. Tiemo Matthijssen (Expert, meteorological instrumentation, Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut - KNMI)