Combustion Theory

Lecturer: Prof. Heinz G. Pitsch, RWTH Aachen University
Course Length: 15 hours (Mon – Fri)

Objective: The aim of this fifteen-hour course is to provide graduate students involved in combustion research with the required fundamental knowledge in laminar and turbulent combustion. The nine lectures in laminar combustion will mainly be on flame theory, including premixed and diffusion flame structure as well as flammability limits. The six lectures in turbulent combustion will cover the different regimes in premixed combustion including a common expression for the turbulent burning velocity, as well as the flamelet concept and its applications for non-premixed turbulent combustion.

Combustion Chemistry

Lecturer: Prof. Hai Wang, University Of Southern California
Course Length: 15 hours (Mon – Fri)

Objective: A discussion of the fundamental and application of combustion chemistry with topics ranging from a review of thermodynamics, thermochemical properties, group additivity, basic quantum and statistical mechanics, reaction mechanisms and modeling, transition state theory, Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Markus theory, to solution of the master equation of collision energy transfer. Topics of transport theory and properties include the Chapman-Enskog theory and its applications. Concepts and application of detailed kinetic modeling of laminar reacting flows will be discussed.

Internal Combustion Engines (I) Gas Turbines (II) Reciprocating Engines

Gas Turbines
Lecturer: Prof. Timothy C. Lieuwen, Georgia Institute Of Technology
Course Length: 6 hours (Mon – Tue)

Objective: This course will discuss fundamental combustion problems arising from gas turbine combustion or, more generally, from combustion in steady flowing, premixed systems. We will briefly overview key metrics defining a "good combustor" - operability, emissions, turndown, and durability. We will then focus on fundamental issues arising out of operability metrics - namely flame stabilization and flashback, and combustion instabilities. Topics will include flame stabilization in high shear regions, thermoacoustic instabilities, and response of flames to harmonic perturbations.

Reciprocating Engines
Lecturer: Prof. Rolf D. Reitz, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Course Length: 9 hours (Wed – Fri)

Objective: The goal of any engine is to convert the energy contained in a fuel into useful work, as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. Engines can be classified into various families based on how this conversion is accomplished. The reciprocating internal combustion engine is one such family that will be discussed in this series of lectures. We begin the first day by motivating the importance of engines and engine research to our world. A brief review of engine fundamentals and a discussion of some of the basic metrics used to define engine performance will follow. Fuel property effects will also be reviewed. The second day reviews computer modeling tools that are increasingly being used by the engine industry for engine design. Successful modeling requires an in-depth understanding of fundamental engine processes, and modeling helps reveal where information about important processes is missing or incomplete. Finally, on day 3 future directions in engine research will be reviewed. The role of computer modeling and detailed experiments in engine design optimization will also be discussed.

Frontiers in Combustion

Combustion in a Global Environmental Context
Lecturer: Prof. Robert H. Socolow, Princeton University
Course Length: 3 hours (Mon)

Objective: Human civilization is confronting global environmental limits. The assignment of “fitting on the earth” is unfamiliar and unwelcome, and it presents daunting challenges for technology. Today, combustion is by far the dominant energy conversion process driving the global economy, dwarfing the contributions from fission-based heating of steam, the channeling of falling water, the slowing of wind, and the absorption of solar photons in semiconductors. What transformations of the global energy system are in view for the next half century, and how will environmental objectives and necessities shape this transformation?

New Developments in Combustion Technology
Lecturer: Dr. George Richards, NETL, DOE
Course Length: 3 hours (Tue)

Objective: Combustion is the workhorse of today's energy and propulsion technologies, and powers much of our modern world. While concern over carbon dioxide emission has fostered many debates over the role of combustion in the decades ahead, it is important to emphasize that combustion research can provide an important answer to this debate. New combustion technologies hold the promise of addressing carbon dioxide management, efficient power production, and effective use of both fossil and renewable fuels. This course will describe how emerging technologies, all related to traditional combustion disciplines, can play a role in boosting energy efficiency, and providing cost-effective methods to manage carbon dioxide. Topics covered will include chemical looping combustion, oxy-fuel combustion, magnetohydrodynamics, pressure-gain combustion, and others.

Alternative Fuels including BioFuels
Lecturer: Prof. William H. Green, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Course Length: 3 hours (Wed)

Objective: An overview of the field of alternative and biofuels, focusing on the requirements for a new fuel to be successful: production issues; marketing, distribution, & business issues; fuel performance issues; environmental issues. Methods used for assessing whether a proposed fuel could be a significant contribution to solving the energy problem will be discussed. Alternative fuels now being considered will be used as case studies.

Cyber-Combustion
Lecturer: Dr. Jacqueline H. Chen, Sandia National Laboratories
Course Length: 3 hours (Thur)

Objective: The aim of this course is to provide graduate students in combustion with an overview of the role of high performance computation in combustion as a third pillar to experimentation and theory in discovery combustion science. The three hour lecture will cover topics including opportunities and challenges for petascale direct numerical simulation of turbulent combustion of alternative fuels, co-design of combustion simulation and exascale computer architectures, and the cyberinfrastructure required to share large simulation data with a global modeling community.

Nanoengineered Reactive Materials and their Combustion and Synthesis 
Lecturer: Prof. Richard A. Yetter, Pennsylvania State University
Course Length: 3 hours (Fri)

Objective: In the nanotechnology community, there has been tremendous progress in the molecular sciences toward the total command of chemistry at all length scales. This progress has been inspired by advances in the structural determination of biological systems. Similar advancements in assembly of molecular and nanoscale elements have been made in the pharmaceutical and microelectronics fields as well. These developments make it clear that in the foreseeable future it will be possible to synthesize any desired macroscopic structure with precise location of every atom. This course examines how nanotechnology methodologies are currently being applied to develop multifunctional smart reactive materials for combustion applications and the combustion methods for materials synthesis.