Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC)

Introduction

Vision

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

Mission

The Clean Combustion Research Center (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.

 

Center Objectives and Approaches

The Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC) at KAUST draws on multiple engineering and science disciplines, all of which contribute to the improvement of existing combustion technologies, while allowing to pursue novel and innovative solutions. A key goal of the Center is to develop simple, cost-effective processes for supplying clean energy by combustion, partial oxidation, or other means relying on chemical energy conversion. The Center research agenda includes the improvement of less conventional processes such as hydrocarbon fuels gasification in order to obtain hydrogen or hydrogen-rich fuels, while capturing the carbon for sequestration or use in high value-added materials.

The Center will develop an international collaboration network through Global Research Partnership, Academic Excellence Alliance, KAUST Investigators, and KAUST Fellows with various combustion research institutions worldwide. Industry collaboration will be pursued through joint topic development, collective commitment, co-supervision, shared facilities, and onsite training and internship programs. KAUST’s emphasis on collaborative research among centers is crucial to energy efficiency, energy storage and energy utilization as well as to the development of new alternative fuel sources. The Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC) will work closely with KAUST’s other Research Centers. These include those Research Centers focused on catalysis, membranes, solar energy, desalination, and bioscience and bioengineering with an emphasis on energy utilization and bio-nano-energy science.

 

Multidisciplinary Areas of R&D Focus

Technology-driven combustion fundamentals:

  • Clean and energy-efficient combustion
    • Pollutant formation and control, emission monitoring, partial oxidation for gasification, syngas combustion, after-treatment, heat recovery, spray flames, and combustion aerosols
  • Combustion characteristics of low-grade and alternative fuels
    • Chemical kinetics
    • Low-grade fuel combustion
    • Syngas-assisted combustion, syngas reforming
    • Alternative fuel sources including bio-fuels
  • Carbon capture and storage
    • Oxy-fuel combustion and carbon capture processes.
  • Innovative combustion
    • Electric-field / plasma-assisted combustion
    • Catalyst-assisted combustion
    • Novel ideas of combustion and control
  • Combustion safety
    • Related to the petroleum industry such as oil drilling, mining and refinery processes
    • Fire and explosion

Goal-oriented application technologies:

  • Internal combustion engines
    • Direct injection, low temperature combustion, HCCI/PCCI, fuel characterization, alternative fuels
  • Gas turbines
    • Thermo-acoustics, ignition/autoignition, lean blowout, flashback, fuel flexibility, real-time combustion control
  • Utility and industrial burners
    • Oxy-fuel combustion, low NOx burner, CO2 capture
  • Emissions monitoring and reduction technologies
  • Hybrid energy and cogeneration for industrial systems
  • Gasification technologies, fuel reforming, heat recovery technologies, and system studies

 

Leveraged International Research by Partnership

Private Sector Collaboration

  • Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC)
  • Saudi Aramco
  • KACST – Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment Institute
  • Various world combustion technology industries

Academic Excellence Alliance

KAUST Investigator

Regionally-Relevant Focus Areas

    The Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC) will coordinate with related KSA activities such as the advanced technologies of strategic importance to the Kingdom including oil and gas, petrochemicals, energy, environment, and space and aeronautics. The Center will work closely with the oil and gas industry on fuel formulation, fuel flexibility, and safety issues in drilling, mining, and refinery processes.

 

Facilities and Equipment

The Center will have a wide array of advanced combustion and characterization equipments and facilities including: PIV, PDPA, LIF, LII, CARS, emission analyzer, GC/MS, SMPS, CLD, fast FID, visualization setups, engine cells, gas turbine combustion test facility, shock tube, and rapid compression machine.