简介(Abstract): Understanding the combustion chemistry of fuels can aid in developing thermal conversion processes and in improving combustion applications. Optimization of engine performance requires an understanding of how a fuel’s molecular structure affects important combustion properties.  The research herein presents the current state-of-the-art in comprehensive chemical kinetic modeling of conventional and alternative fuels typically used in diesel, gasoline, and jet engine applications.  This involves the development of large databases of chemical reaction pathways with associated kinetic rate parameters, as well as thermochemical and transport properties for all reactant, intermediate, and product species.  First, surrogate mixtures with a limited number of components are designed to match important target fuel properties.

Then detailed reaction pathways are written for the surrogate components to simulate their combustion at conditions relevant to combustion applications.  The art of assigning rate constants using chemical intuition and quantum chemical modeling will be discussed.  The determination of thermochemical and transport properties is achieved using both molecular modeling tools and empirical methods.  The comprehensive models are then validated against data from well-defined experimental configurations, such as zero-dimensional and one-dimensional reacting flows whose physics can be modeled exactly.  These validated models are finally employed to determine the thermal degradation and oxidation pathways relevant to the prediction of combustion performance in practical engine applications.  Real examples of detailed chemical kinetic models for transportation fuels will be presented with the aim of displaying how such predictive tools can aid in designing Future Fuels for Future Engines.

报告人介绍(Brief Biography):Mani Sarathy is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology of Science and Technology (KAUST) in the Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC). During the Summer of 2012, he was a Visiting Researcher in Germany’s TMFB Cluster of Excellence at RWTH Aachen University.  Mani was previously a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Combustion Chemistry group at the US Department of Energy Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. During that time he held a prestigious fellowship from NSERC of Canada. Mani received his PhD and MASc degrees in Environmental and Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto and his BASc in Environmental Engineering Chemical Specialization from the University of Waterloo. Mani’s research interest is in developing sustainable energy technologies with decreased net environmental impact. A major thrust of research is simulating the combustion chemistry of transportation fuels. The goal of Mani’s research is study conventional and alternative fuels (e.g., biofuels, synthetic fuels, etc.), so the environmental impact of combustion systems can be reduced.