Investigation and Control of Hydrogen flames Across the Scales

ICHAruS is a Doctoral Network aimed to train early-stage researchers, able to face current and future challenges in the field of innovative, edge-cutting technologies based on electro-magnetic assist to achieve full control of the hydrogen flames. ICHAruS has been built to provide doctoral training in a collaborative partnership between academic and industry partners who are major European gas turbine manufacturers. The aim of this partnership is thus to understand the physical processes that govern the interaction between hydrogen combustion and electro-magnetic fields at all flow scales to achieve such control and identify the key parameters that would allow for the design of an innovative, ultra-low NOx and flashback-proof combustion device. The behavior of hydrogen flames under plasma discharge and electromagnetic conditioning offer the opportunity to strongly accelerate the path towards zero-carbon energy and transport sectors. Three specific research objectives will be pursued: 1) Investigation and modelling of electromagnetic field effects on the species transport and chemical kinetics to unveil the effect of external electromagnetic fields on the reaction chemistry of hydrogen in both pure oxygen and air, and also determine any effects on the formation of pollutants. The effect of differential diffusion on the flame structure as opposed to electromagnetic drift will be also investigated. 2) Develop turbulence combustion models for low- and high-energy electromagnetic assisted combustion. The competing effects between electromagnetic drift and turbulence transport will be investigated and sub-grid scale closures for large-eddy simulations that consider the effect of electromagnetic fields and plasma will be developed. 3) Experimental and numerical investigation of innovative electromagnetic-assisted control technologies for the stabilisation of flames of practical interest. Both single swirl flames and annular configurations will be investigated