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Michael W Renfro, PhD, College of Engineering, ME Department

Prof. Renfro’s research overview: Dr. Michael Renfro’s research mainly consists of the development and use of optical and laser diagnostics to better understand areas such as automotive paint application and power production; specifically combustion, gas turbines, and fuel cells.

Project for DLX Cluster:

Flame Stabilization by Autoignition in Non-homogenous Mixtures

Future gas-turbine engine combustors will likely use high-pressure-ratio, staged combustion where premixed fuel and air mixtures are injected into hot environments such that autoignition may be the dominant stabilization mechanism. Past combustor designs stabilized the flame by either flame propagation or pilot flames, which could be intentionally located near a fuel injector for safety reasons. In new designs, the flame may be stabilized by igniting wherever the mixture composition and temperatures are suitable. Continued improvement in engine design requires both a fundamental and practical understanding of how these flames stabilize. Prior work related to autoignition has focused on uniform mixtures and temperatures. Autoignition conditions with large gradients in chemical composition and temperature are not well understood. The current work utilizes a premixed jet in vitiated coflow burner to create a simple flowfield and establish a laminar and steady autoigniting flame. Experimental laser diagnostics are being implemented to understand the stabilization point which will be compared to detailed chemistry numerical simulations.

PI:

Prof. Michael Renfro, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Students:

Stephen Grib (Ph.D Student),
Tyler Owens (Graduate Student)

Computational methods:

Numerical flow simulations with detailed chemistry

Software:

ANSYS Fluent

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