ITV - Institute for Combustion Technology

 

Head of the Institute

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Günter Pitsch

Field of Study

Energy engineering, Computational Engineering Science (CES)

Main Focus

Combustion engines, Nuclear technology, Turbo engines, Thermal engineering, Power plant engineering

Research Focus

Research in the fields of turbulent combustion and its applications in engines, gas turbines and furnaces, chemical kinetics of combustion, turbulence theory, multiphase flows and electrochemistry with applications to fuel cells. The approach is the combination of simultaneous theoretical model development, numerical simulation, and experimental validation. Within the Collaborative Research Center (SFB 686) "Model-Based Control of Homogenized Low-Temperature Combustion", aspects from the field of automatic control are also considered.
A further emphasis is on "Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass" within the cluster of excellence under the same title. Diesel engines are operated in the institute and measurements are conducted in different flow reactors, high-pressure combustion chambers and open flames. For numerical simulations, in-house codes for direct numerical simulation (DNS), large eddy simulation (LES), Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS), and 1-D flame calculations are available.


Experimental and numerical investigations:
Experiments are performed using laser-optical methods, schlieren and shadow techniques, particle image velocimetry (PIV), Rayleigh spectroscopy, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Applications in engine experiments, control of diesel-engine combustion, dual-fuel concept, soot formation, experimental investigation of spray development and mixture formation in high-pressure fuel injection systems, kinetic experiments, measurements of burning velocities and ignition delay times

Theory and simulation:
LES of turbulent combustion, pollutant formation, primary atomization in multi-phase flows, spray combustion, development and reduction of reaction mechanisms, simulation of gasoline- and diesel-engine combustion, industrial and houshold burners as well as gas turbine combustion, quantum chemical and Monte-Carlo simulations of electrocatalytical processes and multiscale modelling in fuel cells

Contact

ITV - Institute for Combustion Technology
Templergraben 64
52056 Aachen

Phone: +49 241 80-946 07
Fax: +49 241 80-929 23


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