Welcome to the EuroFlam Web Site  
A Consortium of Large Scale Facilities in the Field of
Energy, Combustion and the Environment

Combustion Technology: Research, Development & Training
Transnational Access to Major Research Infrastructures



The Partners- Cardiff University Cardiff,
 United Kingdom

Within the EuroFlam Consortium, the Division of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Studies at Cardiff University is the Academic Partner. The Division is Located in the Heart of the City, Within the Recently Developed Queen's Buildings. The Division Has Gained a Reputation for Academic Excellence, Rating Very Highly in the Latest UK Research and Teaching Quality Assessment Exercises. (Project listing)

Cardiff is a cosmopolitan, dynamic and attractive city with a population of 300,000. As the capital of Wales, Cardiff is able to offer the broad range of social, cultural and recreational amenities normally associated with much larger cities, but without the overcrowding and high costs. The University has been found to offer students the lowest cost of living, together with the highest quality of life, in the UK. Cardiff is easily accessible by road, rail and air, with Cardiff airport being connected to many European cities by direct flights.

Independent guides published in 'The Guardian' and 'The Times' newspapers have consistently found the Division to be in the top three UK mechanical engineering departments. The combustion research team at Cardiff is led by Prof. Syred, who has nearly 30 years research and consultancy experience. Five other experienced members of the academic staff are available to supervise visiting investigators, including Dr Griffiths, who also acts as the EuroFlam Programme Manager at Cardiff.

The Division's large-scale research rigs, industrial furnaces and associated advanced laser diagnostic equipment are seen as being unique in the university sector. A range of rigs and furnaces of up to 3 MWth capacity offer the capability to fire a range of solid, liquid or gaseous fuels. The furnaces are specifically designed to facilitate detailed data collection; ports are provided for gas sampling and temperature measurement and there is good optical access for laser diagnostic tools. Of particular note is a 2MWth swirl burner that can burn fuels with a very low calorific value (down to 2MJm-3), such as gases derived from wastes.

In addition to studies on conventional fossil fuels, means of producing and using alternative fuel resources are also being investigated at Cardiff. Wastes can be thermally decomposed (pyrolysed) using a large-scale pyrolysis unit equipped with a continuous waste feeder, condensers for collecting liquid products and means for sampling the gaseous products.

Of especial note is a novel gasifier designed to produce a high quality fuel gas from waste sawdust, suitable for combustion in gas turbines.

The Division has gained a high reputation for its use of advanced laser diagnostic equipment to study flow phenomena in flames and furnaces. Up to three components of velocity may be measured at a single point within a flow field using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA). Particle Doppler Anemometry (PDA) allows simultaneous measurement of particle size and velocity. The laser probes can be mounted on computer-controlled traverses, enabling complete velocity maps of flow fields to be produced rapidly and accurately.

The experimental facilities at Cardiff are complemented by the latest computer simulation and modelling software, including fluid dynamics packages such as FLUENT and CFX. The software takes advantage of the capabilities of a suite of Silicon Graphics computers, including an ORIGIN 2000 supercomputer and two OCTANE twin-processor high-power workstations.

  (Photo: The West wing of the Queen's Buildings, Home of the Division of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Studies.)

More on EuroFlam at UWC ...

More about UWC EuroFlam Contract ...

 

Project Listing:

Professor Nick Syred

  1. Burner, gasifiers, combustors and gas turbine combustors modelling, Read it
  2. Predictions of oscillations in combustors, both stationary and gas turbine, using a variety of different fuels, Read it
  3. Prediction of large frequency jumps and the effect of system geometry change, as well as the effect of scale in the area of conventional burners and gas turbines, Read it
  4. Prediction of engines and explosions, Read it

Dr A J Griffiths

  1. General description, Read it

Dr Tim O'Doherty

  1. Modelling of a jet flow using FLUENT, Read it
  2. Turbulent structures associated with jet flows, Read it
  3. Modelling of novel heat transfer surfaces using Fluent, Read it
  4. Experimental analysis of novel heat transfer surfaces, Read it
  5. Turbulent structure of swirl flows, Read it

Dr. Philip Bowen

  1. Large-scale Combustion Hazards, Read it
  2. Transient Combustion Modelling, Read it
  3. Liquid-Fuel Combustion, Read it
  4. Biofuel, Read it
  5. Combustion Particulates, Read it
  6. Combustion and Laser Diagnostics, Read it
  7. Jet Breakup and Novel Atomisation Research, Read it

Dr D M ODoherty

  1. Thermal stress modelling of heat exchanger surfaces, Read it

Dr C J Bates

  1. Droplet Coalescence and Break-Up, Read it

 

For further information on the EuroFlam programme, mail to: info@euroflam.net
Page designed and executed by "Aristide Of St. Michael" in co-operation with Peter Roberts at IFRF NET,
Tony Griffiths at UWCC and Mario Graziadio at ENEL.