High Efficiency, Low-Emission, Fuel-Flexibility
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My research aims to provide stewardship to solve mankind’s problems of energy and environment. We focus on methods to achieve clean combustion with low emissions of nitric oxides (NOx), carbon monoxides (CO), soot, and unburned hydrocarbons (UHC). We strive for fuel-flexible combustion systems where domestically produced biofuels and alternative fuels can be used interchangeably with conventional fuels. We are interested in combustion research to yield high thermal efficiency with low carbon footprint. We believe that the combustion research when combined with recent technological advancements in additive manufacturing, sensors, high-speed computing, etc., has the potential to generate breakthrough ideas to address our most pressing energy/environmental needs.
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Current Research Interests
- Lean premixed combustion for gas turbines
- Lean direct injection combustion for aviation
- Passive mitigation of thermo-acoustic instabilities
- Liquid fuel atomization
- Fuel-air mixing at supercritical conditions in diesel applications
- Biofuel combustion and alternate fuels
- Quantitative rainbow schlieren deflectometry
- Computational Fluid Dynamics
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Why combustion research is (even more) important today ?
Energy is ubiquitous to life, and its significance as an important research topic for the foreseeable future remains indisputable. Need for clean air, concerns for the environment and climate change, volatility in energy prices, negative balance of trade, and limited fossil energy reserves are factors that will continue to require new solutions, and thus, energy will remain an important research focus in the foreseeable future. According to the Energy Information Agency (EIA), nearly 7/8th of the total energy consumed in the U.S. in 2013 was derived from combustion of fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, and coal) and biomass. EIA also predicts that increases in renewable energy portfolio such as solar and wind power will have only a modest impact on the share of the fuel-based energy supplies. Clearly, the energy infrastructure for the next 25 years will remain dependent upon fuels and combustion.
Combustion research has a rich heritage in addressing societal needs. In the 1970s, combustion research sought to alleviate smog and acid rain problems. In the 1980s, ozone depletion (Antarctic O3 hole) concerns and health hazards of particulate matter (PM) emissions were addressed through combustion research. In the 1990s, combustion techniques were developed to reduce nitric oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions to meet stringent clean air regulations. Combustion of domestically produced biofuels to reduce reliance on imports received significant attention at the turn of the 20th century.
Today’s automotive and aircraft engines, power generating gas turbines, boilers, furnaces, industrial manufacturing process, etc., employ vastly different combustion techniques than those a few decades ago. In fact, advanced combustion techniques have disrupted the notion that the economic growth (and hence, the quality of life) is linked to harmful emissions resulting from increased use of fuels. Consider the following remarkable statistics: in the past 45 years, the gross domestic product has increased by 234%, driven vehicle miles have increased by 168%, and energy consumption has increased by 44%. Still CO2 emissions increased by only 24% and aggregate emissions of the six most common pollutants have actually decreased by 68% http://www2.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview
Combustion research has a rich heritage in addressing societal needs. In the 1970s, combustion research sought to alleviate smog and acid rain problems. In the 1980s, ozone depletion (Antarctic O3 hole) concerns and health hazards of particulate matter (PM) emissions were addressed through combustion research. In the 1990s, combustion techniques were developed to reduce nitric oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions to meet stringent clean air regulations. Combustion of domestically produced biofuels to reduce reliance on imports received significant attention at the turn of the 20th century.
Today’s automotive and aircraft engines, power generating gas turbines, boilers, furnaces, industrial manufacturing process, etc., employ vastly different combustion techniques than those a few decades ago. In fact, advanced combustion techniques have disrupted the notion that the economic growth (and hence, the quality of life) is linked to harmful emissions resulting from increased use of fuels. Consider the following remarkable statistics: in the past 45 years, the gross domestic product has increased by 234%, driven vehicle miles have increased by 168%, and energy consumption has increased by 44%. Still CO2 emissions increased by only 24% and aggregate emissions of the six most common pollutants have actually decreased by 68% http://www2.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview
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Read more about our Research
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Passive Mitigation of Thermoacoustic Instabilities
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