Research – Propulsion and Energy Lab

Current Research

Advanced Ignition Method for Combustion Engines

Pre-chamber jet ignition, an alternative to traditional spark ignition, has been used in large-bore natural gas engines and F-1 racing cars. It has demonstrated the potential for enabling stable ultra-lean combustion, reduction in cycle-to-cycle variation, and extension of the lean see more

Alternative Fuels and Hydrogen

Syngas produced from coal and biomass gasification can produce liquid fuels for aviation through fuel synthesis using processes such as the Fischer-Tropsch Process. As alternative fuels are emerging in the market, it is important to understant their physical, chemical and combustion see more

Propulsion Technology for UAVs

Sustainable Aviation

Completed Research

Novel Fuels and Propellants for High-speed Propulsion

Nanofluid fuels, an exciting new class of nanotechnology-based fuels, are liquid fuels with a stable suspension of nanometer-sized particles. Depending on the physical and chemical properties of the added nanomaterials, nanofluid fuels can achieve better performance see more

Combustion at small scales

Combustion-based small-scale energy devices have applications in many fields, e.g., portable power devices, sensors, actuators, unmanned aerial microvehicles, microthrusters, and micro-heating devices. In particular, see more

Transcritical and supercritical reaction flow

Practical engines such as liquid rockets and diesel engines operate at high pressures. As a result, the injected fuel may be at transcritical or supercritical state during the injection, mixing and vaporization processes. Previous studies have provided important insights on supercritical see more