MECH ENG 4112 - Combustion Technologies & High Temperature Processes

The course covers the basics of thermal energy technologies that are common for combustion and fuels, with an emphasis on high temperature production processes. The Paris Agreement requires elimination of global, energy-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, and this will demand a staggering transformation since 80% of current energy systems rely on the combustion of fossil fuels. This move to increasing fractions of renewable energy, including renewable hydrogen, biomass, waste and concentrated solar thermal, is driven by the need to mitigate GHG emissions and is expected to take around 50 years. The deployment of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technology alongside existing fossil fuel energy production is also expected. Managing these changes brings many technical challenges, since any change in fuel composition or energy mix will influence the design of the combustion system, fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. The course will equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to address these challenges. It covers the understanding, analysis and design of modern combustion systems to account for fuel properties, maximise output and minimise air pollution. Combustion involves both mixing of the fuel and oxidant and the subsequent chemical reactions. The course therefore involves consideration of both combustion aerodynamics and fuel properties. It covers fuel selection, alternative and waste fuels, the design principles involved in reducing pollutant emissions, modelling, applications of combustion for power generation and minerals processing, hybridising combustion with concentrated solar thermal energy and fuel upgrading using solar thermal energy.