Marc Baumgardner, PhD
Micro-Combustion
Micro-reactor and
small scale burner analysis of flames with focus on improving chemical kinetic
mechanisms for prediction of emissions (CO, NOx, and particulate matter) with
applications to either improvement of renewable
fuel use in engines or biomass cookstoves.
Application 1 – fuels for use in
advanced engines. As a means of improving IC engine efficiency,
researchers have devoted much effort to better understanding flame dynamics and
the impact of reaction kinetics on IC engines[1] and increasingly
more focus has been placed on the use of renewable fuels in these advanced
engine concepts[2]. Recently micro and meso-reactor tubes[3]
and small scale burners[4] have been used to investigate combustion
properties relevant to reference hydrocarbon fuels, but opportunities exist to
further investigate biofuels using these devices. For example, we have recently published a novel n-heptane/n-butanol mechanism[5] based primarily on ignition
delay measurements but further improvement could be made by micro-reactor study
to better examine the flame-reaction zones.
Application 2 – improved cookstoves: More than
three billion people around the world rely on biomass as their primary cooking
fuel[6,7]. Most burn biomass in traditional, inefficient cooking
structures that produce dangerous indoor air environments, resulting in several
million deaths per year[8]. Much research has been devoted to
exploring the various aspects of improving cookstove design but an enhanced
understanding of the effects of design parameters on emission improvements is
still required[9]. Recently we conducted an experimental and
modeling study to investigate how the parameters of chimney stoves affect
combustion efficiency[10]. As part of that study I developed a novel modeling approach that may have implications on
better understanding emissions from real flames such as those encountered
in open fires. Moreover, I am currently
involved in a DOE-funded grant which is attempting to develop a gasifier
stove capable of reaching Tier 4 emission levels (something no current
cookstove can do). To compliment both of these projects, micro-reactor analysis
of pyrolysis biomass gas would help to better elucidate the creation of
emissions and would bridge computational modes to real-world stoves. Micro-reactors
have only recently been used to examine simple flame regimes[11,12]
and using these promising new combustion devices to analyze biomass is likely
to be a topic of great research in the future.
[1]
X. Lu, D. Han, Z. Huang, Prog. Energy and
Combustion Science 37 (2011) 741-783.
[2]
N.P. Komninos and C.D. Rakopoulos, Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16 (2012) 1588-1610.
[3] M. Hori, et. al., Combustion and Flame 159 (2012) 959-967.
[4]
Egolfopoulos, F.N. et. al. Prog. Energy
Comb. Sci. 43 (2014) 36-67
[5]
M.E. Baumgardner, S.M. Sarathy, A.J.
Marchese, Energy&Fuels 27 (2013) 7778-7789.
[6]
W.J. Martin, R.I. Glass, J.M. Balbus, F.S. Collins, Science 334 (2011) 180-181.
[7]
S. Anenberg, Nature 490 (2012) 343.
[8]
N. Bruce et. al., Air Quality and Climate
Change 47 (2013) 32.
[9]
C. L’Orange, J. Volkens, M. DeFoort, Energy
for Sustainable Development 16 (2012) 448-455.
[10]
J. Prapas, M.E. Baumgardner, A.J. Marchese, M. DeFoort, Energy for Sustainable Development. 23 (2014) 286-293.
[11]
Y. Tsuboi, T. Yokomori, K. Maruta, Proc.
Combust. Inst. 32 (2009) 3075-3081.
[12]
H. Nakamura, et. al., Combustion and
Flame 161 (2014) 582-591.