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ME438 THEORY OF COMBUSTION

Course Objectives

COURSE DESCRIPTION

COMBUSTION IS A MODE OF CHEMICAL CONVERSION OF ENERGY. SEVERAL FUELS, GASEOUS LIQUID OR SOLID, MAY UNDERGO COMBUSTION CHEMICAL REACTIONS PROVIDED THAT ENOUGH OXIDANT AND IGNITION HEAT SOURCE ARE PROVIDED. SEVERAL COMBUSTION REGIMES CAN BE ENGINEERED SUCH AS LAMINAR OR TURBULENT / PREMIXED OR NON PREMIXED / SUBSONIC OR SUPERSONIC / SUBCRITICAL OR SUPERCRITICAL UNDER VARIOUS PRESSURE / INITIAL TEMPERATURE / MIXTURE COMPOSITION / GRAVITATIONAL CONDITIONS.  UNWANTED COMBUSTION PHENOMENA MAY ALSO OCCUR SUCH AS FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS. COMBUSTION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY HAS TODAY ATTAINED A VERY SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENT LEVEL DEVELOPING EXPERIMENTAL, THEORETICAL, COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES USING SEVERAL ADVANCED RESEARCH TOOLS SUCH AS LASER DIAGONSTICS, CHEMICAL KINETICS AND TURBULENCE MODELLING AND VARIOUS NUMERICAL APPROACHES, INCLUDING DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATION. AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF COMBUSTION STUDIES IS THEIR STRONG INTERDISCIPLINARY NATURE MOBILISING KNOWLEDGE AREAS RANGING FROM CHEMICAL KINETICS TO TURBULENCE, HEAT TRANSFER, PHYSICS, THERMODYNAMICS,  OPTICS, ANALYTICAL TECHNICS, SPECTROSCOPY AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS. COMBUSTION IS TODAY AT THE HEART OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES. BURNING CARBON CONTAINING FUELS EMITS CO2, SOURCE OF GLOBAL WARMING AND ALSO MANY OTHER POLLUTANTS SUCH AS PARTICULATE MATTERS AND NOX THAT ARE HAZARDEOUS FOR HUMAN HEALTH. THE TASK FOR COMBUSTION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TODAY IS TO CONCEIVE AND OPTIMIZE NEW FUELS AND NON-POLLUTING / LOW / ZERO CARBON EMISSION CHEMICAL CONVERSION SYSTEMS. THE MAIN TOPICS ARE: COMBUSTION OF HYDROGEN AND HYDROGENATED FUELS / OXY- COMBUSTION AND CARBON CAPTURE / ENERGY VALORIZATION OF ORGANIC WASTE MATERIALS BY VARIOUS GASIFICATION AND PYROLYSYS PROCESSES / HYDROGEN GENERATION BY COAL GASIFICATION, METAL HYDROLYSIS, NATURAL GAS PYROLYSIS / BURNİNG OF SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUELS. THE COURSE WILL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING TOOLS FOR FUTURE ENGINEERS TO BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE STATE OF THE ART STUDIES IN MODERN COMBUSTION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AREAS

At the end of this course, students will

• undestrand the present challenges of energy and environmental issues related to chemical conversion of energy in general, and related to combustion in particular, both for energy and propulsion applications
• comprehend the basic phenomena in combustion science and technology for various combustion applications
• know which knowledge body should be mobilized to understand and solve a combustion problem
• use the existing state of the art to suggest solutions to solve a combustion problem  

Course Content

Scope of combustion. Combustion thermodynamics. Basic transport phenomena. Chemical kinetics; reaction rate. Explosions in gases. Laminar and turbulent flames in premixed combustible gases. Structure of detonation. Diffusion flames; liquid droplet combustion. Theory of thermal ignition. Combustion of coal; burning rate of ash forming coal, fluidized bed combustion. Pollutant formation. Propellants and rocket propulsion.

Course Learning Outcomes

• understand the present challenges of combustion science and technology,
• know basic physical, chemical, and thermodynamic concepts that are important in the study of combustion,
• know the fundamentals of chemical processes and the importance of chemical kinetics in the study of combustion,
• know the fundamentals of turbulent processes and multiphase phenomena relevant in the study of combustion,
• comprehend the underlying physics and chemistry of laminar premixed flames,
• comprehend the general characteristics of turbulent premixed flames and understand the basic knowledge on the analytical and modelling approaches to study them,
• comprehend the basic knowledge on multiphase combustion such as atomization, droplet combustion, metal particle combustion, coal combustion, spray and cloud combustion,
• comprehend the basic knowledge on the effects of high pressures, supersonic velocities, supercritical conditions on combustion phenomena
• understand  the recent challenges surrounding combustion applications such as carbon capture and utilization, introduction of hydrogen as a clean fuel...
• understand the recent challenges on the chemical conversion of energy such as gasification and pyrolysis of organic materials (including lignite, biomass and waste streams) CO2 hydrogenation, hybridization of energy systems...
• apply the acquired knowledge to challenging combustion problems
• know how to become curious about the energy issues in general in relation with the environmental issues; how to develop his/her interests in these topics in a rational way through literature search and articulation of several knowledge bodies; how to be open to interdisciplinary thinking; how to articulate R&D to societal challenges

Program Outcomes Matrix