Dr. Birk has acted as a consultant for industry and government in a number of thermal/fluids
related areas, including:
- industrial heat transfer
- thermal analysis and computer modelling of pressure vessels in or near fires.
- boiling liquid expanding vapour explosions (BLEVE).
- liquefied gas hazard analysis.
- emergency response training.
Dr. Birk has worked as a consultant under contract with:
W. R. Davis Engineering Ltd. (Ottawa)
- IR suppression of military vehicles.
- Specialized exhaust components for gas turbines
- Scale model tests of gas turbine intakes and exhaust systems
- Development of hail gun and bird gun for gas turbine qualification tests
Alcan Canada Products Limited (Kingston)
- water spray for coil inter-pass cooling.
Consumers Gas Company Limited (Toronto)
- blast and projectile hazards from ruptures of buried pipe
Alupower Canada Limited (Kingston)
- computer simulation of a passive fuel cell cooling system based on a single-phase thermosyphon
Shell LNG and Petroleum Companies (Houston)
- hazard analysis of a large scale LNG storage site
FRONTEC Logistics (Calgary)
- measurement and characterization of a pool fire simulator for firefighter training.
RCMP Canadian Bomb Data Centre (Ottawa)
- technical guidance and experimental analysis of bomb effects on propane tanks.
Chadwick Engineering Ltd. (Kingston)
- analysis of a chilled roller system for aluminum sheet cooling.
TransSys Research Limited (Kingston)
- review of thermal analysis of nuclear waste transportation casks
Province of Quebec (Montreal)
- thermal and failure analysis of a propane tank near a burning building
Zelle and Larson (Minneapolis)
- expert witness on a large Industrial accident and BLEVE
Williams, Montgomery and John (Chicago)
- thermal analysis of steel and aluminum propane cylinders exposed to fire
Cozen & O'Connor (Atlanta)
- expert witness for a propane cylinder explosion
Transport Canada (Montreal, Ottawa)
- BLEVE testing
- tank car fire thermal and failure analyis and modelling
- BLEVE training video and technical documentation
- BLEVE training seminar for emergency responders
- develop thermographic inspection technique for tank-car fire protection
- analyze insulation deficiences on tank-cars
- develop insulation deficiency assessment criteria
- provide training course to inspectors
All of the contracts ended in the delivery and acceptance of engineering reports. For more information contact Birk@ME.QueensU.CA.