Quenching of radicals and micro-mixing in micro-combustion

Summary

This project will investigate the dominant issue of radical quenching on solid surfaces in a micro-combustor as well as micro-mixing with the objective of enabling flame stabilisation in small channels.

Supervisor(s)

Professor Assaad Masri

Research Location

Aerospace, Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering

Program Type

Synopsis

Micro-combustion is a relatively new field of research that is fast evolving due to interest in micro-power generation systems. A challenging problem here is loss of flame stability because the large surface to volume ratio of micro-combustors results in significant interactions of the gas with the surrounding solid surfaces hence resulting in thermal and/or radical quenching important and outstanding research issues that are central to the advancement of science in this field. Quenching of radicals on solid surfaces where active sites on the surface attract flame radicals such as H and OH depleting them from the gas phase and leading to quenching Homogeneous versus heterogeneous reactions and the relative importance of these reactions in the stability of micro-combustion; and Micro-mixing processes which are largely limited by molecular diffusivities so that mixing enhancement techniques are needed.

Keywords

micro-combustion, radical quenching, laser diagnostics, chemical kinetics, micro-mixing

Opportunity ID

The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 291

Other opportunities with Professor Assaad Masri

• Turbulence-chemistry interactions in piloted premixed flames
• Characteristics of oxygen-enriched combustion