About

Professor Hameed Metghalchi was selected as an Honorary Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for distinguished services in promoting mechanical engineering through teaching, administrative and mentoring efforts; for contributions to the international community through research publications; and for sustained leadership in the Advanced Energy Systems Division of ASME's Energy Resources Board. His research interests include the fundamentals of combustion such as burning speed and onset of autoignition measurement and flame stability analysis; development of chemistry reduction methods such as the rate-controlled constrained-equilibrium method; and non-equilibrium thermodynamics. He holds numerous awards and recognitions, including Life Fellow of ASME; Honorary Fellow of the International Society for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability (2020); ASME George Westinghouse Gold Medal (2019); ASME Edward F. Obert Award (2014); ASME Dedicated Service Award (2011); and ASME Harry Potter Award (2011).

Research topics

• Materials science
• Computer Science
• Thermodynamics
• Engineering physics
• Organic chemistry
• Engineering
• Process engineering
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• Concentrating Solar Thermal Power in China: 2025 Review and Outlook

  ASME Open Journal of Engineering · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract China has become a global leader in the development of concentrating solar thermal power (CSP), taking advantage of state support, localized supply chains, and integration within hybrid renewable energy bases. By mid-2025, China's installed CSP capacity reached 1.14 GW, with a pipeline exceeding 8 GW across the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang. Recent policy frameworks, including the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2025 Energy Law, elevate CSP alongside photovoltaics and wind by mandating long-duration thermal storage and performance-linked incentives. Analysis of operational projects demonstrates CSP's strategic role in grid stability, enabling peak-shaving up to 80%, ramp rates of 3–6%/min, and synchronous inertia—capabilities not supplied by short-duration batteries. China's CSP supply chain is now over 90% localized for critical components and targets annual production equivalent to 5 GW annually, though challenges remain regarding workforce readiness and deployment in remote desert regions. While installed capacity has lagged earlier targets, CSP is increasingly valued for reducing renewable curtailment and displacing coal peaking units. If even half of the announced projects are realized, China could surpass Spain as the world's largest CSP market by 2030. This trajectory underscores both opportunities and risks: cost reductions through economies of scale and hybridization, alongside talent shortages and financing constraints. The findings provide context for policymakers and researchers evaluating CSP's role as a complementary, dispatchable solar resource within China's energy transition.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Determination of Enthalpy and Entropy of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

  ASME Open Journal of Engineering · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used as synthetic chemicals and are known for their persistence in the environment and potential health risks. Among them, perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluoroether carboxylic acids (PFECAs) are of particular interest due to their industrial applications and environmental impact. While the thermodynamic properties of PFCAs have been studied to some extent, data on PFECAs remain limited. In this work, a combination of a detailed statistical thermodynamics method and an electronic structure method is employed to predict key thermodynamic properties, including heat capacity, sensible enthalpy, enthalpy, and entropy of formation, for both PFCAs and PFECAs over a wide range of temperature. The isogyric reaction scheme for C/H/O/F organic compounds is used to determine enthalpy of formation. Additionally, NASA seven-coefficient polynomial parameters have been developed for heat capacity, enthalpy, and entropy, facilitating their use in computational modeling. All results for PFCAs are compared with previous studies, while PFECAs, which have been rarely explored, are systematically examined.

  PublisherDOI

• A Brayton Pumped Thermal Energy Storage System Based on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Recompression Reheating Discharge Cycle

  ASME Open Journal of Engineering · 2025-01-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract In recent years, renewable energy such as solar energy and large-scale energy storage, which is a very important technology to compensate for solar energy's fluctuation due to weather issues, have been extensively investigated. In this paper, a Pumped Thermal Energy Storage (PTES) cycle based on a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) Recompression Reheating cycle and energy pump with a recuperator has been proposed and analyzed. Molten salt with varying temperatures of 565 °C to 730 °C has been used for energy storage. The pressure ratios have been fixed in the discharge cycle as 2.5, and in the charging cycle, it varies in order to find the optimum operation condition. Parametric studies have been made to determine the best performance of the new system. Molten salt temperature, split ratio, pressure ratio, and intermediate pressure have been varied in the calculation. Exergy analysis has been developed in order to determine exergy destruction in all components. Roundtrip efficiencies have been calculated over a wide range of operating conditions. Different working fluids such as argon, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen were used in both cycles. Performance was determined for different combinations of working fluids. It is concluded that for best performance working fluid for energy pump (charging) should be argon and carbon dioxide should be the working fluid for discharging cycle. For this combination operating at optimum molten salt temperature, intermediate pressure and split ratio in the discharging cycle, the roundtrip efficiency is 66%, which is the maximum.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Energy and Exergy Analyses of Power Generation Cycles Using Powdered Iron as a Fuel Source

  ASME Open Journal of Engineering · 2025-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract As the effects of climate change become a greater threat, the need for a viable source of sustainable energy grows daily. Iron powder has been proposed as a potential alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Pulverized iron can be burned similarly to coal. Unlike coal, however, iron combustion does not create CO2 as a by-product. It also produces a negligible amount of NOx. Iron is also abundant in the Earth's crust, has a low explosion range, possesses a competitive energy density to hydrocarbons, and reacts well with oxygen. Finally, the iron oxide produced during combustion can be collected and reduced back to iron, creating a fully sustainable process. In this analysis, different power generation cycles were analyzed to maximize the energy and exergy efficiencies as well as the work output per unit mass of iron. It was found that the power cycle that maximized both the energy and exergy efficiencies as well as the work output per unit mass of input iron was a combined power cycle, where the topping cycle was a gas turbine cycle with one-stage compression and expansion and the bottoming cycle was a steam turbine cycle with two-stage expansion and reheat. This brought the theoretical energy efficiency to 59.87%, the theoretical exergy efficiency to 65.37%, and the theoretical work output per unit mass of iron to 4422 kJ/kg. The energy efficiency decreased to 56.81% when auxiliary devices were considered.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Integrating concentrating solar power technologies into the Northeastern University engineering curriculum

  2025-09-17

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Estimation of the Thermodynamic Properties of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

  ASME Open Journal of Engineering · 2025-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of human-made chemicals used in various industrial applications and consumer products for their water- and grease-resistant properties. PFAS are often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily in the environment or in the human body. This persistence can lead to environmental contamination and potential health risks, including issues like cancer, liver damage, and immune system effects. Efforts to manage and reduce PFAS contamination involve stricter regulations and the development of alternative substances. Thermodynamic properties such as internal energy, enthalpy, and entropy are needed to model the nonequilibrium process of burning PFAS molecules. A model has been developed to quantitatively determine the thermodynamic sensible properties, including Gibbs free energy, heat capacity, enthalpy, and entropy, over a wide range of temperatures. The model is founded upon statistical thermodynamic expressions that encompass translational, rotational, and vibrational motions of the atoms. The model has been used to calculate the thermodynamic properties of PFAS. The results of this study are in good agreement with other computational data.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Developing a Sustainable Engineering Mindset Through Heliostat Activities in Project-Based Learning

  2025-04-29

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Design of a New Power Cycle Employing Geothermal Energy and Solar-Driven Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Plant

  ASME Open Journal of Engineering · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract In recent years, renewable energy such as solar energy and geothermal energy has been extensively investigated. In this article, a new power cycle employing geothermal energy and a solar-driven supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) plant has been proposed and analyzed. Various configurations of solar-driven supercritical CO₂ recompression Brayton cycles with geothermal preheating have been proposed and analyzed. A series of parametric studies, including variations in maximum cycle temperature, geothermal source temperature, and other key parameters such as intermediate pressure and split ratio, have been conducted to evaluate their impact on the overall cycle efficiency and net power output. The pressure ratio has been fixed at 2.5. It has been concluded that the mass-matched case, which will be described later in the text, has the best performance compared with other cases with the same amount of geothermal energy input.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Inclusion of Concentrated Solar Thermal Power in Northeastern University's Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

  ASME Open Journal of Engineering · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Global energy consumption continues to surge, demanding a transition from fossil fuels to cleaner and more sustainable alternatives. A variety of renewable energy sources—solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal—are critical to this transformation, with each offering diverse and regionally adaptive solutions. Among these sources, solar energy has become a dominant force through both photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal technologies. While PV systems remain the leading force in regard to rapid deployment and decentralized applications, concentrated solar thermal power (CSTP) systems offer a unique advantage of thermal energy storage. Thermal energy storage offers an affordable and efficient form of dispatchable electricity generation and industrial process heat. Despite its benefits, CSTP remains a niche and is vastly underrepresented in engineering curricula across the United States. This article presents a comprehensive initiative at Northeastern University to address this educational gap by systematically institutionalizing CSTP content across nine mechanical engineering courses from the first year through the graduate level. Through hands-on projects, advanced simulations, and heliostat-focused design challenges, engineering students gain practical and theoretical exposure to CSTP technologies. By aligning curriculum development with the goals of the Department of Energy (DOE) and Heliostat Consortium (HelioCon), Northeastern University establishes a replicable model for integrating CSTP education and preparing a new generation of engineers to meet the growing demands of the clean energy transition.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Retention of Under-Represented Minority Engineering Students through Practice-Oriented Experiential Education

  2025-04-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Omid Askari

  West Virginia University

  26 shared

• Ziyu Wang

  Beijing Forestry University

  24 shared

• Mohammad Janbozorgi

  University of California, Los Angeles

  20 shared

• Guangying Yu

  China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center

  18 shared

• Farzan Parsinejad

  Chevron (United States)

  13 shared

• Ali Moghaddas

  Northeastern University

  13 shared

• Kian Eisazadeh-Far

  10 shared

• Sai C. Yelishala

  University of Colorado Boulder

  10 shared

Labs

• Thermodynamics and Combustion LaboratoryPI

Education

• Ph.D., Electrical Engineering

  University of California, Berkeley

  1990

• M.S., Electrical Engineering

  University of California, Berkeley

  1986

• B.S., Electrical Engineering

  University of Tehran

  1982

Awards & honors

• Honorary Member of ASME
• Honorary Fellow of the International Society for Energy, Env…
• Life Fellow of ASME
• 2019 ASME George Westinghouse Gold Medal
• 2014 ASME Edward F. Obert award