KAUST combustion research paper published
Wednesday December 15, 2010
Scientists at KAUST have had their findings in published in a premier combustion research journal.
Clean Combustion Research Center Director Dr. Suk Ho Chung and Mechanical Engineering Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr. Byung Choi recently published a paper in Combustion and Flame (the Official Journal of The Combustion Institute). The paper discussed their findings regarding the auto-ignition characteristics of various fuels.
Auto-ignition is a key issue in understanding the well-known knocking phenomenon in gasoline engines and ignition processes. It is also an important design element in diesel engines and emerging engine technologies such as premixed-charge compression ignition (PCCI) engines and low-temperature combustion (LTC) engines.
These experiments are intended to link basic kinetic information on auto-ignition and practical applications where auto-ignition frequently occurs in fuel jets, such as in diesel sprays.
Two different modes of auto-ignition have been identified. They use auto-ignition with a tribrachial edge and auto-ignition with mild combustion.
The work embraces several elements of the combustion processes including auto-ignition, jet flow, and heat loss during auto-ignition in mixing layers. A correlation of characteristic flow time to the square of ignition delay time has been found to be valid independent of the fuels tested.
Professor Chung and Dr. Choi hope that this piece of fundamental and thorough research will be recognized in the future for aiding the optimization of combustion in emerging engine technologies.
Clean Combustion Research Center
When opened, the Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC) will be a world-renowned research center pursuing leading solutions to global challenges arising from the combustion of fossil fuels, such as pollutant control, global warming and climate change abatement, and sustainable fuel usage.
The CCRC will seek a knowledge-based understanding of combustion phenomena, develop innovative technologies for clean and efficient combustion and provide solutions for present and future energy and environmental challenges.
The Center will establish a graduate-level research program for the education and training of expert leaders on clean combustion technology for the benefit of the Kingdom, the region and the world.
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