ICHAruS CALL FOR APPLICATIONS OF 12 PhD positions in the Marie Skolodowska Curie Action - Doctoral Network “ICHAruS” project

The project

ICHAruS is a MSCA Doctoral Network aimed at training 12 early-stage researchers to develop a set of innovative research activities in the field of active control of hydrogen combustion using electric and electromagnetic fields.

ICHAruS has been built to provide doctoral training in a collaborative partnership between academic and industry partners selected among the main European gas turbine and aeroengine manufacturers. The aim of this partnership is thus to understand the physical processes driving the interaction between hydrogen flames and electromagnetic fields at all flow scales so to permit actively assisted combustion and identify the key parameters that would allow for the design of an innovative, ultra-low NOx, silent and flashback-proof combustion devices for future gas turbines and aeroengines. The behavior of hydrogen flames under plasma discharge and electromagnetic conditioning offers the opportunity to strongly accelerate the path towards zero-carbon energy and transport sectors.

The project ICHAruS will recruit 12 Doctoral Candidates (DC) in eight prominent institutions forming the network, which are spread across five countries (Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom), In addition, five Associate Partners (including gas turbine and aeroengine industries) will support training and secondments for the DCs.  

The Consortium

UNIVERSITA’ DEL SALENTO

INSTITUT NATIONAL POLYTECHNIQUE DE TOULOUSE

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT (TU Delft)

CENTRE EUROPÉEN DE RECHERCHE ET DE FORMATION AVANCÉE EN CALCUL SCIENTIFIQUE

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN

German Aerospace Center (DLR)

IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE

Associate Partners

University of Sydney

Penn State University

SAFRAN TECH

Baker Hughes

UNIVERSITY OF STUTTGART

PhD projects

12 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will be recruited to work on the following PhD topics:

DC1

• TITLE: Modelling of Plasma Assisted Combustion
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: prof. Maria Grazia De Giorgi
• CO-SUPERVISOR:
• HOST ISTITUTION: University of Salento  (IT)
• OBJECTIVES
  • The purpose of this project is to review and further develop the modelling tools that have been successfully applied to characterize plasma-assisted combustion suitable to be used with hydrogen fuel. A reduced- order plasma chemistry model will be implemented to estimate the temporal evolution of species and temperature in the plasma discharge. The model will integrate the plasma kinetics solver ZDPlasKin and the chemical kinetics solver CHEMKIN. The impact of geometric and operating plasma actuation parameters (reduced electrical field, frequency and HV waveform) will be numerically analysed and used for the design of the experimental test at UNILE
• Expected results
  • Development of high fidelity 0D and 1D numerical tools for plasma and ozone-assisted combustion under a variety of alternative fuels
• Contact Person: prof. Maria Grazia De Giorgi

DC2

• TITLE: Investigation of chemical pathways in hydrogen combustion
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: prof. Benedicte Cuenot / Prof. Andrea Giusti
• CO-SUPERVISOR: N. Barleon
• HOST ISTITUTION: CERFACS (Fr) / IC (UK)
• OBJECTIVES:
  • This project aims at investigating the chemical pathways of hydrogen combustion in a range of conditions relevant to practical applications. The study will be based on molecular dynamics simulations and will attempt to assess and quantify the chemical pathways leading to (i) the formation of NOx and (ii) catalysis at walls in hydrogen-air combustion systems. The study will be performed in collaboration with IC and PSU. The current molecular dynamics framework will be used to build reaction kinetics to be included in CFD simulations of lab-scale experiments. The specific objectives of the project are to: (i) understand and assess the NOx emissions of hydrogen systems; (ii) understand and assess possible catalytic effects at walls of hydrogen systems; (iii) provide accurate reaction kinetics of the formation of NOx and wall catalysis in hydrogen combustion and, depending on the progress of the project, hydrogen-plasma assisted combustion. Developments of reactive molecular dynamics may be necessary to improve the accuracy and robustness of the simulations.
• Expected results
  • (i) New knowledge on the chemistry paths, energy barriers of nitrogen oxide formation and wall catalysis in hydrogen-air systems; (ii) New reaction kinetics of nitrogen oxide formation and wall catalysis in hydrogen-air systems; (iii) Evaluation of NOx and catalysis effects in lab-scale experiments with hydrogen combustion and hydrogen-plasma assisted combustion. 
• Contact Person: prof. Benedicte Cuenot

DC3

• Hydrogen flame response to combined electrical and acoustic modulations
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: prof. Thierry Schuller
• HOST ISTITUTION: INPT
• OBJECTIVES
  • The purpose of this project is to explore to which extent (i) an electrostatic field and (ii) a modulation of the local electrical field applied at the flame root of an inclined laminar reaction layer can be used to modify the response of hydrogen air flames to acoustic perturbations. The configuration investigated is a flame anchored on a bluff body that also constitutes a new type of electrodes in a test bench which is instrumented for detailed flow and detailed acoustic characterizations. The acoustic field can be tailored with actuation devices located at both extremities of the burner and tunable acoustic boundary conditions also enabling to modify the thermoacoustic state of the combustor. Modifications of the flame and its response to incident flow disturbances will be examined with global heat release rate measurements and locally with detailed flame shape and flow velocity measurements as a function of the electrical field applied to the electrodes. The impact of electrode design reduced electrical field and electrical modulation parameters will be scrutinized in order to unravel the main parameters leading to a globally weak response of flames interacting with sound waves.
• Expected results
  • (i) Detailed flow and flame database on the impact of an electrical field for hydrogen air flames stabilized on a bluff body and on their responses to acoustic perturbations. (ii) analysis of the impact of electrical field parameters on the response of flames submitted to external flow disturbances. (iii) development of low order models of the dynamics of flames submitted to both acoustic and electrical field perturbations. (iv) development of control schemes lowering the flame receptivity to incident flow disturbances and thermo-acoustic instabilities by control of the local electrical field.
• Contact Person: prof. Thierry Schuller

DC4

• TITLE: Data-driven closures for large-eddy simulation of turbulent hydrogen combustion with electric fields
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: prof. Antonio Andreini
• CO-SUPERVISOR:
• HOST ISTITUTION: UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE
• OBJECTIVES
  • This project aims at developing novel turbulent combustion closures in LES framework considering the effect of electric and electromagnetic fields on overall reactivity. The models will be obtained by adopting machine-learning strategies starting from the datasets obtained by other DCs across the project In particular innovative efficiency functions for the Artificially Thickened Flame model will be proposed to take into account the role of electric fields on turbulence-chemistry interaction and on excited chemical species motility. Models will implemented in to AVBP code and a strong interaction with DC6 by CERFACS is planned. The specific objectives of the projects are: i) analysis of data generated by DNS calculation planned by DC12, ii) machine-learning definition of novel ATF closures and iii) validation on UNILE test case.
• Expected Results:
  • (i) New knowledge on the chemistry path, energy barriers and nitrogen oxide formation in hydrogen-air systems, also including the effect of non-equilibrium states; (ii) new methodologies to investigate the effect of non-equilibrium states in molecular dynamics; (iii) a database of results from molecular dynamics to model reactions in continuum-based models.(i) Detailed flow and flame database on the impact of an electrical field for hydrogen air flames stabilized on a bluff body and on their responses to acoustic perturbations. (ii) analysis of the impact of electrical field parameters on the response of flames submitted to external flow disturbances. (iii) development of low order models of the dynamics of flames submitted to both acoustic and electrical field perturbations. (iv) development of control schemes lowering the flame receptivity to incident flow disturbances and thermo-acoustic instabilities by control of the local electrical field.
• Contact Person: prof. Antonio Andreini

DC5

• TITLE: Large-eddy simulation modelling of multi-mode hydrogen combustion with magnetic fields
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: Dr Ivan Langella
• CO-SUPERVISOR: None
• HOST ISTITUTION: TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT
• OBJECTIVES
  • This project has two objectives: (i) Development of multi-mode combustion model that can account for the hydrogen flame physics under electromagnetic forces. A baseline combustion code based on presumed-FDF approach will be improved to incorporate this multi-physics. First the effects on the chemical kinetic, will be implemented. Then, the LES model will be further improved to account for SGS effects of electromagnetic conditioning on hydrogen flames and validated against experimental data from the partners. The (ii) second objective is the understanding of the combustion-electromagnetic interaction in practical configurations. Different practical configurations will be proposed and simulated by varying the electromagnetic conditions, with the purpose of obtaining a detailed assessment of the effects on flame stabilization and emissions. The LES dataset will be further explored to look at relevant quantities not accessible by experiments, so to provide further indications on the physics of turbulent hydrogen flames.  
• Expected Results:
  • A novel and validated flamelet-based model that includes multi-mode combustion and electromagnetic effects.
  • Improved understanding of the stabilization mechanism and emissions of turbulent hydrogen flames subject to electromagnetic effects.
• Contact Person: Dr Ivan Langella

DC6

• TITLE: Modelling of plasma-assisted combustion for the control of combustion instabilities
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: prof. Benedicte Cuenot
• CO-SUPERVISOR: N. Barleon
• HOST ISTITUTION: CERFACS
• OBJECTIVES

The overall objective is to understand and analyse the impact of nano-pulsed plasma on combustion and combustion instabilities. Intermediate objectives are (i) to develop a nanopulsed plasma model suitable for the 3D simulation of combustion devices and (ii) to perform the 3D simulation of a lab scale configuration for validation. The work consists of the following items: (I) Based on detailed simulations of nanopulsed plasma discharges in turbulent flows using the code AVBP-PAC, a low-order model will be derived, able to reproduce the impact of nanopulsed plasma on turbulent reacting mixtures in both unburnt and burnt gas conditions. (ii) The TUB configuration will be simulated in conditions of increasing complexity with the code AVBP: stable combustion without plasma, combustion instabilities without plasma, combustion instabilities with plasma. In all conditions, systematic comparison with available measurements will be performed to validate the numerical model. (iii) Based on the results of the previous tasks, detailed analysis will be performed to understand the impact of plasma on the behaviour of combustion instabilities, and recommendations for the design and use of nanopulsed plasma actuation will be drawn.

• Expected Results:
  • (i) Model of nanopulsed plasma suitable for inclusion in 3D Large Eddy Simulation of turbulent combustion (ii) Understanding of the interaction between nano-pulsed plasma and reacting mixtures in unburnt and burnt states, and of the underlying mechanisms of plasma-controlled instabilities (iii) Recommendations on the design and use of plasma-assisted combustion devices.
• Contact Person: prof. Benedicte Cuenot

DC7

• TITLE: Experimental characterization of stability of swirl flame under plasma discharges,
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: prof. Antonio Ficarella
• CO-SUPERVISOR: Maria Grazia De Giorgi
• HOST ISTITUTION: University of Salento
• OBJECTIVES

The overall objective is to understand and analyse the impact of nanopulsed plasma on combustion and combustion instabilities. Intermediate objectives are (i) to develop a nanopulsed plasma model suitable for the 3D simulation of combustion devices and (ii) to perform the 3D simulation of a labscale configuration for validation. The work consists of the following items: (I) Based on detailed simulations of nanopulsed plasma discharges in turbulent flows using the code AVBP-PAC, a low-order model will be derived, able to reproduce the impact of nanopulsed plasma on turbulent reacting mixtures in both unburnt and burnt gas conditions. (ii) The TUB configuration will be simulated in conditions of increasing complexity with the code AVBP: stable combustion without plasma, combustion instabilities without plasma, combustion instabilities with plasma. In all conditions, systematic comparison with available measurements will be performed to validate the numerical model. (iii) Based on the results of the previous tasks, detailed analysis will be performed to understand the impact of plasma on the behaviour of combustion instabilities, and recommendations for the design and use of nanopulsed plasma actuation will be drawn

• Expected Results:
  • (i) Model of nanopulsed plasma suitable for inclusion in 3D Large Eddy Simulation of turbulent combustion (ii) Understanding of the interaction between nano-pulsed plasma and reacting mixtures in unburnt and burnt states, and of the underlying mechanisms of plasma-controlled instabilities (iii) Recommendations on the design and use of plasma-assisted combustion devices.
• Contact Persons: proff. Ficarella Antonio, De Giorgi Maria Grazia

DC8

• TITLE: Experimental Studies of the interaction of instable flames and NRP forcing
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: Prof. Oliver Paschereit
• CO-SUPERVISOR: Prof. Myles Bohon
• HOST ISTITUTION: Technische Universität Berlin
• OBJECTIVES
  • This project will experimentally explore the interaction of NPR plasma discharges with swirling instable flames. Using the unique existing experimental facilities of TUB, variable instable swirling flames can be either induced through naturally occurring thermoacoustic instabilities or directly acoustically forced through an array of four azimuthally distributed load speakers. This setup allows for the exploration of the interaction of various modes of combustion instabilities (such as longitudinal or transverse modes) and a correspondingly distributed array of plasma forcing. This project will explore the effect of the physical position, mode shape and phase shift between the combustion instability and the plasma excitation under a range of excitation frequencies up to several kilohertz. A model for the interaction of the plasma-generated flame kernels and the longitudinally and azimuthally instable flames will be developed.
• Expected Results:
  • i) Investigation of flames with naturally occurring thermoacoustic instabilities (longitudinal modes) at low frequencies with differing plasma forcing patterns, ii) Investigation of suppression of longitudinal and transverse instabilities (low, medium, and high frequencies) through plasma forcing, iii) Development of a model for the mechanism of plasma generated flame kernel interaction with instable flames for the enhancement or suppression of fluctuations.
• Contact Person: prof. Myles Bohon

DC9

• TITLE: High-fidelity CFD modelling of stability and control of gas turbine hydrogen burners
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: prof. Andreini Antonio
• CO-SUPERVISOR:
• HOST ISTITUTION: University of Florence
• OBJECTIVES
  • The objective of the research is to investigate innovative gas turbine hydrogen burners in presence of active control by the means of nanopulsed plasma discharges. A hydrogen optimized version of low-swirl lean lifted flame burner, previously investigated by UNIFI and UNILE in the CHAIRLIFT project, will be here analysed to explore ultra-lean low NOx operations enabled by the use of active flame control by localized nanopulsed plasma actuation. The use of plasma discharges has proved to improve lifted flame stability by providing highly reactive radicals at flame root, without affecting low NOx operations of the concept. LES investigations will be carried out using the AVBP-PAC code under development by CERFACS with DC6: DC9 will contribute to code development and provide further validation support thanks to experimental results obtained by DC7 at UNILE on the low-swirl lean lifted burner. The validated LES approach will then be used to optimize the low-swirl lifted concept and related active plasma control to further improve flame stability by investigations at GT realistic operating conditions
• Expected Results:
  • (i) Validation of AVBP-PAC code on ultra-lean low-swirl lifted hydrogen flame (ii) investigation of the role of NRP on the stability improvement of lifted flames, (iii) improved low-swirl lifted hydrogen burner design with NRP plasma control
• Contact Person: prof. Antonio Andreini

DC10

• TITLE: Study of piloting and fuel staging for hydrogen injectors
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: Klaus Peter Geigle
• CO-SUPERVISOR:
• HOST ISTITUTION: DLR, Enrollment: University of Stuttgart
• OBJECTIVES
  • Different combinations of two (or more) injectors in terms of piloting and fuel staging for combustor control in hydrogen combustion are tested. Injectors suitable to operate jet stabilized flames in  generic configurations shall be used, and laboratory flames be studied with appropriate laser diagnostic tools. Hereby, we will characterize the influence of variations of the operation schemes on combustor control and stability. Resulting flow fields (PIV), flame fronts (gradients in OH-LIF images), plus additional information on flame anchoring or flame length (OH chemiluminescence) will provide a comprehensive description of the studied flames. Other diagnostics might be added if identified as useful, based on initial tests. Besides derivation of information on hydrogen combustor control strategies, the generated accurate data set, preferably including correlated data of multiple diagnostics, shall serve as validation case for H2 flame simulation within this program. If an opportunity appears, depending on availability of test capacity, we will also test the piloting/staging concepts at increased pressure to gain information on pressure effects. For data evaluation, existing tools will be adapted to address hydrogen-related specifics of the data sets, and provide best possible information to modellers
• Expected Results:
  • (i) A database of experimental data for the development of models; (ii) novel understanding in the stabilisation mechanism of piloted and staged hydrogen flames.
• Contact Person: Klaus Peter Geigle

DC11

• TITLE: Investigation of electromagnetic effects at the small scales
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: Prof. Andrea Giusti
• CO-SUPERVISOR:
• HOST ISTITUTION: Imperial College, UK
• OBJECTIVES
  • This project aims at investigating the role of electromagnetic interactions in the chemical kinetics of hydrogen, as well as the competing effects between electromagnetic drift and molecular diffusion. The project will be conducted using numerical methods recently developed/improved by Imperial College (Dr Giusti team), which consist of: (i) ab-initio quantum mechanics simulations to study molecule polarisation and response to external electrostatic fields; (ii) reactive molecular dynamics simulations (ReaxFF-MD), to investigate large systems of molecules and their response to electric fields. The project will also make use of molecular dynamics simulations with electron cloud included to further investigate the role of sub-atomics in the response of chemical kinetics to electric fields (eReaxFF-MD). New developments of molecular dynamics to include the effect of magnetic fields are also part of this project. The specific objectives of the project are to: (i) provide understanding on the directional response of molecules to electric fields; (ii) determine the kinetics response of systems of molecules to external electrostatic fields for a range of operating conditions and analyse the change of collision frequency and activation energy (NEB analysis); (iii) extend the investigation to the study of the effect of magnetic fields.
• Expected Results: (i) New knowledge on the chemical response of hydrogen combustion with electromagnetic fields at the micro and nano scales; (ii) a database of results from molecular dynamics to tailor chemical mechanisms under external electrostatic fields; (iii) new methodologies to investigate magnetic effects in molecular dynamics.
• Contact Person: Prof. Andrea Giusti (a.giusti@imperial.ac.uk)

DC12

• TITLE: Direct numerical simulations of turbulent flames under external electromagnetic fields
• LOCAL SUPERVISOR: Prof. Andrea Giusti
• CO-SUPERVISOR:
• HOST ISTITUTION: Imperial College, UK
• OBJECTIVES
  • The main aim of this project is to study the effect of electromagnetic drift on the structure of turbulent flames. The role of the drift, imposed by electromagnetic forces (e.g., Lorentz force) on species that have a charge or have paramagnetic characteristics, opposed to molecular diffusion and turbulent transport is investigated using direct numerical simulations (DNS). SENGA code, recently coupled at Imperial College with the solution of the full set of Maxwell’s equations for electromagnetism, will be used. The code will be further developed to enable a more accurate description of the electromagnetic properties (electric and magnetic susceptibility) of the medium. Premixed hydrogen flames will be investigated under: (i) electrostatic fields of various strength; (ii) magnetostatic fields; (iii) low frequency electromagnetic fields. First, laminar flame computations will be performed and analysed in comparison with the experimental measurements of DC3. This will allow to investigate the effects of electrical drift compared to differential diffusion. For this task, a solver in mixture fraction space, developed at Imperial College can also be used to analyse diffusion flame structure under electrostatic fields. Then, flames with increasing level of turbulence will be analysed.
• Expected Results:
  • (i) new knowledge on the role of electromagnetic drift as opposed to turbulent transport and differential diffusion; (ii) an improved code for the investigation of multi-physics interaction in turbulent flames; (iii) a database for a-priori validation of numerical models (e.g., LES models)
• Contact Person: prof. Andrea Giusti (a.giusti@imperial.ac.uk)

REQUIREMENTS

Candidates should possess a Master’s degree in a relevant academic field (Mechanical, Energy or Chemical Engineering, Physics, or closely related) or a degree that allows them to embark in a PhD. For DC2 and DC11, applicants with a degree in Physics are very welcome to apply. Additional requirements could be necessary according to specific institution’s rules.

Must have great interest and be willing to work in the field of multi-physics combustion, with a focus on zero-carbon fuels, gas-turbine technologies, and related disciplines, including physics or electrical engineering.

Skill Qualifications

Master’s degree in a relevant academic field (Mechanical, Energy or Chemical Engineering or closely related)