ME6166: Combustion Technology

Jan-May 2020
View course flyer


Click here to answer the questionnaire on a separate page


Updates/Announcements:

Passcode to access the course materials (if required) is this-course-number_this-year (Ex: ME5107_2019)
  • 2/3: Tutorial 2 final version, Lecture notes for Module 2 complete
  • 27/2: Tutorial 2 updated
  • 20/2: Computational exercise on non-premixed flames, first version of tutorial 2, video input for demo 2 added
  • 17/2: Lecture notes for Week 4 added
  • 12/2: Lecture notes for Week 3 added
  • 7/2: Solution hints added for tutorial 1
  • 6/2: Reading materials added for recent topics
  • 5/2: Tutorial 1 updated, Lecture notes updated
  • 30/1: Tutorial 1 updated, Computational exercise added (see within tutorial/demos/exercises)
  • 24/1: Lecture notes for Week 2, Tutorial 1 (covering until materials dealt with in class), reading material on premixed flames added
  • 20/1: Lecture notes added for Week 1 (will be updated once a week)
  • 20/1: Source pdfs and sections in textbooks added with reading materials.
  • 17/1: Reading exercise for Module 1 added
  • 3/1: Welcome to ME6166! Our first class is on Jan 13th (Monday): Getting started

Suggested Textbooks:

  • Combustion Technology: Essentials of Flames and Burners, by V. Raghavan, Ane/Athena Books, 2016 (VR)
  • Applications of combustion principles to domestic gas burner design, by H. R. N Jones, 1990 (HJ)
  • An introduction to fire dynamics, Douglas Drysdale, 2011 (DD)
  • Understanding Combustion by H. S. Mukunda, Macmillan India (HSM1)
  • Combustion Physics by C. K. Law (CKL)
  • Theoretical and Numerical Combustion by Thierry Poinsot and Denis Veynante, 2016 (TP)
  • Ercoftac Summer school, Norbert Perters, 1992 (NP)
  • Beér, János Miklós, and Norman A. Chigier. "Combustion aerodynamics." New York (1972).
  • Combustion of liquid sprays, Alan Williams, 1989 (AW)
  • Understanding clean energy and fuels from biomass, H. S. Mukunda (HSM2)

Grading policy:

  • Mid-semester exam: 30%

    Date: March 14th (Saturday), Time: 10 AM--12 PM, Venue: TDCE seminar hall

    Open notes and text books

  • Final exam: 50%
  • Demonstration + Computational exercises: 20%. Groups of 2 or 3.
  • About a third of the exams will be in line with the tutorial sets

Instructors:

  • Dr. Krithika Narayanaswamy
    # 203, Thermodynamics and Combustion Engineering Lab
    Email: krithika@iitm.ac.in

  • Dr. S. Varunkumar
    # 206B, Thermodynamics and Combustion Engineering Lab
    Email: varuns@iitm.ac.in

General information:

  • 9 credit elective course
  • Open for B. Tech (8th sem), DD (8th, 10th sem), M. Tech, M.S, PhD

  • 3 lecture hours per week: G slot

    Monday 12-12:50 PM, Thursdays: 10-10:50 AM, Friday: 9-9:50 AM

  • Every second Wednesday hour (4:50-5:40 PM) is a tutorial hour, unless stated otherwise

  • Venue: MSB 359

Learning Outcomes:

  • Thorough understanding of combustion phenomenon involved in different applications
  • Analysis of combustion devices.

Pre-requisites:

  • ME6060: Fundamentals of Combustion (or) ME5105: Applied thermodynamics
  • Consent of Teacher is required if no prior coursework on these topics has been done.

Questions?

  • Instructors' office hours:
    Friday 3-4 PM, TDCE Seminar hall

  • Teaching Assistants:
    Shanmugasundaram D.


Computing exercises:

  • Request to download FlameMaster here
  • Follow the installation instructions depending on your operating system (TAs can help you with this). Some systems available in TDCE 115 have FlameMaster pre-installed on them. Once again TAs can help you locate them.

Schedule for demonstrations, computational exercises, and tutorial discussion sessions

Gaseous fuel burners: LPG stove burner March 12th
Non-Premixed flames: Tutorial 2 Mar 4th
Non-Premixed flames: Computational Exercise Due on Mar 6th
Non-Premixed flames: Stability, smoke point, extinction; Video for Q1 Feb 19th, report due on March 4th
Premixed flames: Computational Exercise Due on Feb 20th
Premixed flames: Tutorial 1 Feb 5th
Premixed flames: Flat flame burner Jan 22nd, report due on Feb 6th


Course outline

Reading


Module 1: Premixed flames, with bunsen burner as an example: Lecture notes, Tutorial, Hints

Flame speed, its relation to thermochemistry and kinetics CKL $7.6.1, CKL $7.6.2, Measurement of adiabatic flame speeds
Dependence of flame speed on various parameters CKL $1.4.6, CKL $7.7, Dependence of reaction rate on p and T (CKL)
1D conservation laws for steady laminar premixed flames
Flame speed calculations using FlameMaster Solution procedure: PREMIX
Quenching, ignition energy, and Flammability limits HSM1 $7.1, $7.2, $8.0
Flame stretch CKL $10.3, $10.9.1
Turbulent premixed flames Introduction: CKL $11.1, $11.2, $11.3
Modeling: TP $5.1.3, $5.3.2, $5.3.3, $5.3.5, $5.3.6

Module 2: Non-premixed flames, with counterflow diffusion flame as an example: Lecture notes, Tutorial, Hints

Candle flame, counterflow non-premixed flame TP $3.1, Gov Eqns: Opposed flow flame
Opp-diff flame structure at different strain rates using FlameMaster Solution Procedure: OPPDIFF, Potential flow configuration (provided with FlameMaster manual)
Flamelet equations and concept of scalar dissipation rate TP $3.2, NP $9.1
Flame structure problem: Burke Schumann flame using fast chemistry assumption
 TP $3.3
Mixing problem: Steady strained 1D flame with fast chemistry assumption
 TP $3.4.2
Ignition, extinction, and S-curve Extinction Demo, NP $9.4, NP $9.7
Turbulent non-premixed flames CKL $11.4, TP $6.4.3, TP $6.4.5

Module 3: Burners for gaseous fuels:

Flame stability - flash back and blow off Grad school course notes, Bowman and Mitchell, 2006
Domestic LPG stove burner: stability, design concepts VR $3.1.3, $3.1.4, VR $4.4--$4.6, HJ $3.1--$3.4
Stationary gas turbines: Lean premixed combustion Lean premixed combustion

Module 4: Spray combustion and applications:

Classical Gas Turbine combustors
Emerging trends to reduce emissions from aero-engines: RQL, TAPS II, TALON X
Afterburners: issue of stability
Basics of atomization and types of injectors
Droplet vaporization, combustion

Module 5: Solid fuel combustion

Single particle combustion theory for coal and biomass
Biomass packed bed reactor
Burners for powdered coal