Graduate Courses
• MAE 531 “Combustion I”
Chemical thermodynamics and kinetics, oxidation of hydrogen, hydrocarbons and alternate fuels, pollutant chemistry and control, transport phenomena, laminar premixed and nonpremixed flames, turbulent flames, ignition, extinction, and flammability phenomena, flame stabilization and blowoff, detonation and blast waves, droplet, spray and coal particle combustion, principles of engine operation.
Chemical thermodynamics and kinetics, oxidation of hydrogen, hydrocarbons and alternate fuels, pollutant chemistry and control, transport phenomena, laminar premixed and nonpremixed flames, turbulent flames, ignition, extinction, and flammability phenomena, flame stabilization and blowoff, detonation and blast waves, droplet, spray and coal particle combustion, principles of engine operation.
• MAE 532 “Combustion II”
Theoretical aspects of combustion: the conservation equations of chemically-reacting flows; activation energy asymptotics; chemical and dynamic structures of laminar premixed and nonpremixed flames; aerodynamics and stabilization of flames; pattern formation and geometry of flame surfaces; ignition, extinction, and flammability phenomena; turbulent combustion; boundary layer combustion; droplet, particle, and spray combustion; and detonation and flame stabilization in supersonic flows.
Theoretical aspects of combustion: the conservation equations of chemically-reacting flows; activation energy asymptotics; chemical and dynamic structures of laminar premixed and nonpremixed flames; aerodynamics and stabilization of flames; pattern formation and geometry of flame surfaces; ignition, extinction, and flammability phenomena; turbulent combustion; boundary layer combustion; droplet, particle, and spray combustion; and detonation and flame stabilization in supersonic flows.
• MAE 580/WWS 585b “Living in a Greenhouse: Technology and Policy"
A focus primarily on the challenge of modifying the global energy system to reduce projected carbon dioxide emissions. Students pursue both science/technology and policy in each of five two-week units: 1)underlying carbon cycle science, ways the world has organized to learn more & to communicate results; 2) Energy efficiency, patterns of demand, lifestyles, energy & poverty; 3) Fossil fuels, abundance & depletion, energy security; 4) Carbon capture & storage, policies enabling commercialization, risk assessment; 5) Non-carbon energy in its two forms, nuclear power & renewable energy. Final two weeks are devoted to student reports.