Seminars

Abstract: Since the pioneering work of Weinberg’s group at Imperial College, the counterflow system has been the workhorse in laminar flame studies for the past six decades. Much more recent is its use as a benchmark for turbulent (at turbulent Reynolds number, Re_t ~1000) flames. Significant advantages of the counterflow configuration include: a) aerodynamic flame stabilization near the interface between the two opposed jets, with ensuing simplifications in the prescription of boundary conditions; b) a drastic (fiftyfold) reduction of the domain of interest as compared to conventional jet flames at comparable Reynolds number; and c) short (ms) mean residence times, which is useful for soot suppression in the combustion of practical fuels and for (DNS/LES) computational modeling. Case studies will demonstrate the versatility of the system in mimicking real flame effects, such as heat loss and flame stratification in premixed flames, and the compactness of the combustion region in nonpremixed flames. On the basis of recent studies at nominally very large Re_t, I will conclude with some considerations on whether a truly turbulent flame exist in a laboratory environment.

Bio: Professor Gomez received a Laurea in Ingegneria Aeronautica summa cum laude from University of Naples (Italy) in 1980, and a Masters and Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1982 and 1986, respectively. After a postdoctoral and lectureship experience in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Yale, he joined the Faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1989, where he rose through the ranks to his current position as Professor. His research interests focus on fundamentals of combustion, and of electrohydrodynamic sprays with applications in biomedicine, energy and propulsion. Coauthor of more than 100 articles in the peer-reviewed literature, he has been the recipient of a NSF Young Investigator Award, the Whitby Award from the American Association for Aerosol Research and awards from the Fulbright Foundation, the Von Karman Institute of Fluid Mechanics, ATA Fiat Research Center, and Aeritalia. Further details at http://www.eng.yale.edu/gomez-lab/