MAE 5430 - Combustion Processes

Fall. 3 credits.

Enrollment limited to: graduate standing or permission of instructor.

Staff.

An introduction to combustion and flame processes, with emphasis on fundamental fluid dynamics, heat and mass transport, and reaction-kinetic processes that govern combustion rates. Topics include thermochemistry, kinetics, vessel explosions, laminar premixed and diffusion flames, and droplet combustion. Optional topics may include complex combustion systems, turbulent flames, fuel cells, or combustion of solids.

Outcome 1: Students will be able to use tabulated enthalpy or internal energies to calculate an adiabatic flame temperature, and to use tables or software to calculate equilibrium mixtures of perfect gases.

Outcome 2: Calculate concentration time-histories in elementary kinetic mechanisms such as the formation of NO, the combustion of CO, or the combustion of hydrogen.

Outcome 3: Calculate the stability and performance of elementary combustion systems such as the one-dimensional detonation wave, the well-stirred reactor, and the Bunsen burner.

Outcome 4: Understand balance laws for mass, momentum, energy and species conservation and their application to diffusion-limited combustion such as in the gas phase, around spherical droplets or on solid spheres.

Outcome 5: Appreciate the complexity of real combustion systems and the importance of this field in society.