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Gaetano Magnotti

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Physical Science and Engineering Division
Center membership : 
Clean Combustion


Affiliations

Education Profile

  • Postdoctoral Appointee at the Combustion Research Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore California, 2012-2016.
  • Graduate Research Assistant at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA, 2006-2012
  • ​​​​Ph.D. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington DC, USA, 2012
  • B.Sc., Aerospace Engineering, University of Naples, “Federico II”, 2004

Research Interests

Professor Magnotti investigates sustainable combustion solutions to decarbonize the energy and the heavy-duty transportation sector.

At the core of Professor Magnotti's research is the development of novel, cutting-edge, laser diagnostics methods for measurements of temperature, and major and minor species in reactive flows. Areas of particular interest are the development of Raman/Rayleigh scattering, high-precision, kHz rate, pulse-burst laser diagnostics, and quantitative laser-induced fluorescence.

By applying advanced laser diagnostics to combustion test cases ranging from small laminar flames to meter-long turbulent jet flames, his group obtains unprecedented insight into the combustion physics of carbon-free and carbon-neutral fuel. Current active research areas include the combustion of ammonia, and hydrogen at atmospheric and elevated pressures, oxy-fuel combustion in supercritical CO2, and supersonic combustion.

Through imaging and laser diagnostics in optically accessible, heavy-duty internal combustion engines, Professor Magnotti's group investigates novel strategies to increase engine efficiency, including pre-chamber assisted combustion for ultra-lean operation, and isobaric combustion. Upcoming projects focus on heavy-duty internal combustion engines fueled by carbon-free (hydrogen and ammonia) and carbon-neutral (methanol) fuels. 

Selected Publications