Power, Propulsion and Environment
| This graduate topical area emphasizes the underlying sciences and technologies for the conversion of chemical energy to mechanical, thermal, and /or electrical energy forms. Environmental impacts of these energy conversions are addressed. Various sciences are brought into cohesion: combustion, electrochemistry and surface chemistry, fluid dynamics, heat and mass transport, thermodynamics, high-temperature-gas physics, and materials science. Ph. D. dissertations, M.S. theses, and courses relate to the advancement of energy converters and thrustors for various aerospace, automotive, and stationary-power-source applications: gas-turbine engines, ramjets and scramjets, rockets, internal combustion engines, furnaces, fuel cells, and hybrid engines. The studies also address noise emissions, combustion and fuel-cell emissions, atmospheric quality, and electromagnetic wave propagation. Advanced mathematical, computational, and experimental methodologies are commonly engaged or developed. |