Kazuya Tajiri

Contact

ktajiri@mtu.edu
906-487-2675
MEEM 932

Associate Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Director, Multi-Scale Technologies Institute (MuSTI)
SAE Aero Faculty Advisor

PhD, Pennsylvania State University

Biography

Dr. Kazuya Tajiri earned his Bachelor degree from the University of Tokyo, and Master of Science degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in the field of turbulent combustion simulation. After three years of fuel cell research at Nissan Motors in Japan, he returned to the U.S. to continue PhD research at Pennsylvania State University, and earned his PhD degree in 2008. After two years of experience at Argonne National Laboratory conducting fuel cell systems modeling and analysis, he joined Michigan Technological University in 2010.

Currently, Dr. Tajiri is the director of the Multiscale Transport Process Laboratory (MTPL), and investigates the multiphase, multiscale transport phenomena in energy conversion devices and propulsion systems.

At present, two main research objectives are being conducted:

Electrochemical devices for energy conversion
Unsteady flow systems for propulsion / energy conversion

Links of Interest

Faculty Webpage

Areas of Expertise

Ex-situ and in-situ characterization of transport properties through porous media
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell in-situ diagnostics and modeling
Fuel cell systems modeling and analysis
Primary / secondary metal-air battery diagnostics and modeling
Gas-liquid two-phase flows in microchannels
Shock wave compression in microchannels

Research Interests

Transport phenomena in multiscale/multiphase systems
Thermo-fluid system diagnostics, modeling, and optimization
Polymer electrolyte fuel cells for automotive application
Renewable energy
Combustion dynamics modeling

Recent Publications

Abbou, S., Tajiri, Kazuya, Alofari, Karrar T., Medici, Ezequiel F., Haug, A. T., Allen, Jeffrey, "Capillary Penetration Method for Measuring Wetting Properties of Carbon Ionomer Films for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) Applications," Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, No. 7, Apr 2019, pp. F3227-F3233. DOI:10.1149/2.0271907jes
Tajiri, Kazuya, Karani, Jash, Shrivastava, Udit N., "Experimental Study of Oxygen Transport Mechanisms in PEMFC Interdigitated Flow Field," Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 165, No. 16, Dec 2018, pp. F1385-F1391. DOI:10.1149/2.0021902jes
Shrivastava, Udit N., Tajiri, Kazuya, "In-plane Distribution Analysis in the Land-Channel Direction of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC)," Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Apr 2015, Vol.162, No. 7, pp. F722-F727, DOI: 10.1149/2.0561507jes Read More
Mortazavi, Mehdi, Tajiri, Kazuya, "Two-phase Flow Pressure Drop in Flow Channels of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Review of Experimental Approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Online Feb 2015, Vol. 45, pp. 296-317, DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.01.044 Read More
Mortazavi, Mehdi, Tajiri, Kazuya, "Liquid Water Breakthrough Pressure through Gas Diffusion Layer of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Jun 2014, Vol. 39, No. 17, pp. 9409-9419, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.03.238 Read More
Shrivastava, Udit N., Tajiri, Kazuya, "Segmentation of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) in the Land-Channel Direction," ECS Electrochemistry Letters, Jun 2014, Vol. 3, No. 8, pp. F53-F55, DOI: 10.1149/2.0051408eel Read More
Mortazavi, Mehdi, Tajiri, Kazuya, 2013, “Effect of PTFE Content in Gas Diffusion Layer on Water Transport in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFCs),” Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 245, pp.236-244, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.06.138.
Tajiri, K., Wang, C. Y., 2010 “Cold Start of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells,” Chapter 3 in Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry, Vol. 49, pp. 89-128. Edited by C. Y. Wang and U. Pasaogullari, Springer.
Wang, X., Tajiri, K., Ahluwalia, R.K., 2010, “Water transport during startup and shutdown of polymer electrolyte fuel cell stacks,” Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 195(19), pp. 6680-6687.
Tajiri, K., Tabuchi, Y., Wang, C.Y., 2008, “Water removal from a PEFC during gas purge,” Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 53(22), pp. 6337-6343.
Tajiri, K., Tabuchi, Y., Kagami, F., Takahashi, S., Yoshizawa, K., Wang, C. Y., 2007, “Effects of operating and design parameters on PEFC cold start,” Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 165(1), pp. 279-286.
Tajiri, K., Tabuchi, Y., Wang, C. Y., 2007, “Isothermal Cold Start of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells,” Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 154(2), pp. B147-B152.
Yang, X. G., Burke, N., Wang, C. Y., Tajiri, K., Shinohara, K., 2005, “Simultaneous Measurements of Species and Current Distributions in a PEFC under Low-Humidity Operation,” Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 152(2), pp. A759-A766.

Teaching Statement

Dr. Tajiri lectures on applied thermodynamics, fuel cell technology, and other topics related to propulsion and energy conversion.