Horst-​Michael Prasser

Horst-​Michael Prasser is a professor of Nuclear Energy Systems at ETH Zurich as of April 2006.

He was born in Görlitz, Germany, and he studied at the Moscow Institute of Power Engineering from 1974-​1980. He then obtained a PhD at the College of Engineering Zittau in 1984, specializing in reactor fluid dynamic studies. In 1987 he joined the Central Institute of Nuclear Research Rossendorf as a researcher. During German reunification, he took part in the foundation of Forschungszentrum Rossendorf (FZR) as a consultant to the scientific director. Since 1994, Professor Prasser has been the head of "Accident Analyses" and "Experimental Thermal Fluid Dynamics" at the Institute of Safety Research within FZR.

Professor Prasser works in the field of thermal fluid dynamics applied to nuclear power plants and chemical engineering. His research results on boron mixing contribute to the safety of pressurized water reactors. Novel measuring methods for gas-​liquid two-​phase flows, such as wire-​mesh sensors, time-​resolving gamma and X-​ray tomography, and high pressure and temperature proof local void fraction probes are used to study mass, momentum, and energy transfer at the gas-​liquid interface, as well as the dynamics of the interface itself. Professor Prasser developed novel experimental methodologies to study fundamental phenomena at industrially relevant flow parameters with high-​resolution instrumentation, such as the TOPFLOW test facility at FZ Rossendorf. His work aims at the development of CFD codes for two-​phase flows. As a result of his move to Zurich, the scope of his research has been extended due to the experimental opportunities at the Paul-​Scherrer Institute.