ME599-01: Energy Processes for Novel Fuels

This class deals with the energy processes for the production of fuels. After an overview of the broader aspects of energy use from viewpoints of sustainability, resource availability, environmental effects and economics, a review of the fundamentals for the combustion chemistry of novel fuels will be presented. The material covered in this class is intended to provide the students with the tools and understanding to handle basic problems involving chemical systems and rates of simple chemical reactions. This course deals with the theoretical aspects of chemical reaction kinetics, including transition-state theories, estimation of rate constants, modeling complex reacting mixtures, and uncertainty/sensitivity analyses. Reactions in the gas phase are discussed with examples drawn from combustion chemistry. The students will be introduced to the CHEMKIN software and if time allows, to the Gaussian package to compute the energetics of reactions. Various fuels will be considered, including oxygenated. Kinetic mechanisms for fossil fuels and biodiesels will be studied. This course will also examine state of the art technologies aiming at cost effective biomass conversion along with economics, environmental impact, and policy issues.

Guest lectures are brought in to cover environmental and societal issues.

Fall 2008 [See Group Photo]

Fall 2006 [Download Syllabus] [See Group Photo]