Combustion Course

Lesson 1 • Fuels and Oxidisers Overview

Covers solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels alongside common oxidisers. Students distinguish fuel categories by physical state and chemical composition.

Lesson 2 • The Fire Triangle and Tetrahedron

Introduces the fire triangle and its expansion to the combustion tetrahedron. Connects fuel, oxygen, heat, and chain reactions as interdependent ignition requirements.

Lesson 3 • Combustion Products and Emissions

Identifies primary and secondary combustion products including CO2, H2O, CO, and particulates. Links product formation to fuel type and combustion completeness.

Lesson 4 • Basic Thermochemistry of Combustion

Explains enthalpy of combustion, heat of formation, and Hess's law. Provides the quantitative framework for calculating energy released in reactions.

Lesson 1 • Simplified Reaction Mechanisms

Introduces global, skeletal, and detailed mechanisms for practical modelling. Students select appropriate mechanism complexity for given engineering problems.

Lesson 2 • Ignition Theory and Autoignition

Distinguishes piloted ignition from autoignition and thermal runaway. Connects ignition delay time to fuel reactivity and ambient conditions.

Lesson 3 • Reaction Rate Theory

Covers collision theory, activation energy, and the Arrhenius equation. Establishes the mathematical relationship between temperature and reaction speed.

Lesson 4 • Chain Reaction Mechanisms

Explains initiation, propagation, branching, and termination steps in combustion chains. Students trace radical pathways that sustain or extinguish flames.

Lesson 1 • Chemical Equilibrium and Gibbs Energy

Covers equilibrium constants, Gibbs free energy minimisation, and dissociation. Students predict equilibrium product compositions at high temperatures.

Lesson 2 • Second Law and Entropy in Combustion

Introduces entropy generation and irreversibility in combustion. Students evaluate exergy destruction and identify thermodynamic losses in real systems.

Lesson 3 • First Law Applied to Combustion

Applies energy conservation to open and closed combustion systems. Students compute heat release and work for steady-flow and batch processes.

Lesson 4 • Adiabatic Flame Temperature Calculation

Derives adiabatic flame temperature for premixed and diffusion flames. Connects stoichiometry, heat capacity, and dissociation to peak temperature limits.

Lesson 1 • Laminar Burning Velocity

Defines laminar burning velocity and its dependence on mixture composition and temperature. Students use correlations to estimate burning velocity for common fuels.

Lesson 2 • Premixed Flame Structure

Describes the preheat, reaction, and post-flame zones of a laminar premixed flame. Students identify species and temperature profiles across the flame front.

Lesson 3 • Turbulent Flame Regimes

Introduces turbulent premixed and non-premixed flame regimes using the Borghi diagram. Students classify flames by Damköhler and Karlovitz numbers.

Lesson 4 • Diffusion Flame Structure and Burke-Schumann

Analyses the Burke-Schumann model for laminar diffusion flames. Students map fuel and oxidiser mixing zones and locate the stoichiometric flame surface.

Lesson 1 • Char Combustion and Gasification

Analyses surface oxidation and gasification reactions of char particles. Students apply shrinking-core and shrinking-particle models to predict burnout.

Lesson 2 • Spray Combustion Fundamentals

Covers atomisation, droplet size distribution, and spray-flame interaction. Students evaluate how spray quality affects combustion efficiency and emissions.

Lesson 3 • Pulverised Fuel and Grate Combustion

Compares pulverised fuel burners with fixed and moving grate systems. Students select combustion technology based on fuel properties and capacity requirements.

Lesson 4 • Liquid Droplet Evaporation and Combustion

Derives the D-squared law for droplet evaporation and combustion. Students calculate droplet lifetime and flame standoff distance for spray systems.

Lesson 1 • Combustion System Performance Metrics

Defines combustion efficiency, pattern factor, and specific fuel consumption. Students use these metrics to benchmark and compare combustion device performance.

Lesson 2 • Gas Turbine Combustor Design

Analyses primary, secondary, and dilution zones in annular and can-annular combustors. Students evaluate pressure drop, pattern factor, and liner cooling requirements.

Lesson 3 • Industrial Burner Types and Selection

Surveys premixed, nozzle-mix, and radiant tube burners for industrial heating. Students match burner type to process temperature, fuel, and turndown requirements.

Lesson 4 • Internal Combustion Engine Combustion

Examines spark-ignition and compression-ignition combustion processes and knock. Students relate combustion phasing, heat release rate, and indicated efficiency.

Lesson 1 • Primary Emission Control Techniques

Covers staged combustion, lean premixed operation, exhaust gas recirculation, and water injection. Students select primary controls to meet NOx and CO targets simultaneously.

Lesson 2 • Soot Formation and Oxidation

Traces soot nucleation, surface growth, and oxidation in diffusion flames. Students predict soot volume fraction and apply design changes to reduce particulate output.

Lesson 3 • NOx Formation Mechanisms

Covers thermal, prompt, and fuel NOx pathways with rate-limiting steps. Students calculate NOx output as a function of temperature, residence time, and fuel nitrogen.

Lesson 4 • CO and Unburned Hydrocarbon Emissions

Explains CO formation from incomplete combustion and quenching. Students identify conditions that elevate unburned hydrocarbon emissions and apply corrective measures.

Lesson 1 • Reduced and Tabulated Chemistry

Covers ILDM, FGM, and machine-learning-based chemistry tabulation for CFD. Students reduce detailed mechanisms whilst preserving accuracy for target flame conditions.

Lesson 2 • Optical Combustion Diagnostics

Introduces laser-induced fluorescence, Rayleigh scattering, and chemiluminescence imaging. Students design diagnostic setups to measure temperature and species in flames.

Lesson 3 • Combustion Turbulence Models

Compares eddy dissipation, flamelet, and transported PDF models for turbulent combustion. Students select appropriate closure based on flame regime and computational budget.

Lesson 4 • Model Validation and Uncertainty Analysis

Applies verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification to combustion models. Students compare simulation results with experimental data and quantify prediction confidence.