Sasha Philius (Mechanical Engineering)
About DOE Fellow
Sasha Philius graduated from Florida International University (FIU) with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. Sasha’s professional interests include robotics, computational modeling, and design optimization. He is a current executive board member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. Sasha is continuing his education in pursuing a PhD at North Carolina University.
DOE Related Projects
Sasha is currently working on the asynchronous pulsing system (APS) project mentored by Dr. Amer Awwad. Pumping high-level waste (HLW) between storage tanks or treatment facilities is a common practice performed at Department of Energy (DOE) sites. Current commercially available pipeline unplugging technologies do not provide results that are cost-effective and reliable. As part of the research objectives at FIU, novel pipeline unplugging technologies that have the potential to efficiently remediate cross-site and transfer line plugging incidents are being developed. The APS is based on the idea of creating pressure waves in the pipeline filled with water from both ends of the blocked section in order to dislodge the blocking material via forces created by the pressure waves. The waves are generated asynchronously in order to break the mechanical bonds between the blockage and the pipe walls as a result of the vibration caused by the unsteady forces created by the waves.
Sasha has been tasked with assisting in the execution of pressure measurement trials. He ensures the testing site is prepped for trial runs and organizes the data collected from the sensors. He also helps to install and repair any fittings or sensors needed for the experiments.