Events

Dr Jennifer Wen "Numerical study of flow and combustion physics – from fundamental research to application"

Date: Thursday 16 February 2012 10:15 - 11:00

Location: SEMS Seminar Room

Dr Jennifer Wen, School of Mechanical and Automotive Eng, Kingston University

The presentation will give an overview of my research in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which focuses on the development and application of large eddy and direct numerical simulation techniques for reacting and non-reactive flows.
With the aim to numerically characterise and simulate a wide range of engineering problems, much effort has been devoted to develop/modify a number of in-house and open source CFD codes. This involved the development or implementation (often with modifications) of sub-models for both single and two-phase turbulent flow, heat transfer, combustion, soot formation and oxidation. Through the coupling of these models with the efficient arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian method, the high fidelity weighted essentially non-oscillatory scheme and the adaptive mesh refinement technique, fundamental research has been carried out to gain insight of some generic flow phenomena such as buoyancy driven cavity flows, free and impinging jets/jet flames, self preserving buoyant plumes, pool fires and non-premixed piloted flames, autoignition, flame acceleration, flame-wall interaction, detonation quenching and re-initiation, atomisation and droplet transport, etc.
The presentation will include a summary and snapshots of the above development as well as its application to engineering problems related to the sustainable and safe production, transportation and utilization of energy and environment protection. Brief description will also be given about ongoing research on gaseous and dense phase carbon dioxide release in the context of carbon capture and storage. This will be followed by a quick outlook of planned research to underpin the use of hydrogen and syngas in gas turbines, and the growing import of liquefied natural gas which is seen as a vital ally in the search for a sustainable energy future.