Premixed flame ignition by transient plasma discharges
Prof. Paul D. Ronney.University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Monday, September 8, 14:00 p.m. CERFACS Conference Room
Abstract
Premixed-gas flame ignition by short-duration (~?50 ns) pre-breakdown transient plasma discharges, also called pulsed corona discharges, was investigated using methane-, propane-, butane- and octane-air mixtures. We show in quiescent mixtures that compared to conventional spark discharges, flames ignited by pulsed corona discharges yield significantly shorter (typically by a factor of 3) ignition delay and burn times. The lowest pressure mixtures ignitable by pulsed corona discharges were considerably lower than spark discharges of similar energies. A mechanism is discussed that considers the spatial distribution of streamers and a hypothesized minimum streamer ignition energy that is analogous to the conventional minimum ignition energy. Applications to practical combustion devices such as lean-burn premixed-charge internal combustion engines, high-altitude relight of gas turbine engines and pulsed detonation energy are discussed. Further information: http://carambola.usc.edu/research/coronaignition/
About the speaker
Paul D. Ronney is a Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California. Prof. Ronney received a B. S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, an M. S. in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology, and an Sc. D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He held postdoctoral appointments at the NASA-Lewis Research Center and the Laboratory for Computational Physics at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University before assuming his current position at USC. He served as a Payload Specialist Astronaut (Alternate) for Space Shuttle missions STS-83 and STS-94, the Microgravity Science Laboratory, in 1997. Professor Ronney has extensive experience in studies of microscale combustion, turbulent combustion, microgravity combustion and fluid mechanics, IC engines, and flame spread. He has published over 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals, given over 15 invited presentations at international conferences, and received over $8 million in funding for his research projects with a current annual budget of over $1 million. Prof. Ronney was the principal investigator on the Structure Of Flame Balls At Low Lewis-number combustion experiment that was part of STS-83 and STS-94 Space Shuttle missions. Prof. Ronney is also the Principal Investigator on the Radiative Enhancement Effects on Flame Spread flight experiment planned for the International Space Station (c. 2006). In recognition of his achievements, he has been honored as a Presidential Young Investigator by the National Science Foundation, has received a Princeton Engineer's Council Excellence in Teaching Award and received the Starley Premium Award from the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers for the best paper published in the Journal of Automobile Engineering in 1994.
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