PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 26, 2023) — The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded $799,999 in support of a research project at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) that will expand our understanding of how liquid fuels burn at pressures relevant to practical engines.
“The combustion results obtained [through the project] could potentially contribute to the design of cleaner and more efficient combustion engines,” explained the research award recipient – Yuhao Xu, Ph.D., formerly an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at PVAMU.
Yuhao Xu, Ph.D., Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
“We are honored to receive this research grant from the DoD to advance our understanding of combustion physics,” said PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA. “The impact of this grant extends beyond the laboratory, as it will provide valuable opportunities for our students to engage in cutting-edge research.”
As part of the Fiscal Year 2023 DoD Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MSI) Research and Education Program, Dr. Xu was granted funding for his single-Principal Investigator (PI) project exploring the “Combustion of Hydrocarbons and Methyl Esters at Elevated Pressures Using the Spherically Symmetric Droplet Combustion Configuration.”
In combustion engines such as diesel engines, petroleum-based liquid fuel droplets often burn at pressures well above the critical state of the fuel. However, there’s limited information currently available to understand the combustion of liquid fuels under high pressure.
Using a high-pressure combustion apparatus, this project will “examine the burning characteristics of liquid fuels and evaluate the roles of oxygenated fuels on burning rates and emissions,” Dr. Xu explained. The researcher’s proposed method is also a cost-effective approach given the fact that expensive facilities in a drop tower or onboard the International Space Station will no longer be needed to conduct the process.
“This is extremely exciting to receive this single-PI award from the agency,” Dr. Xu expressed.
As stated in the project proposal, quantitative results generated from the research project will help “guide advanced engine designs and serve as a valuable database to develop, validate, and optimize numerical models.” Dr. Xu noted that PVAMU students will also have the opportunity to engage in this research through internal initiatives such as the Faculty-Research and Innovation Success and Excellence (Faculty-RISE) Program.