Michael Liberman to Visit Nordita During 2013

by Axel Brandenburg 8 Apr 2013 Visitors
Published in the "From the Institute" section of Nordita News issue 1, 2013

Professor Michael Liberman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University will be making regular visits to the astrophysics group at Nordita for research collaboration during 2013 and 2014. Michael's work covers a wide range of aspects of turbulence including the theoretical and numerical study of the tangling clustering instability of small particles in temperature-stratified turbulence, its impact on raindrops formation and its influence on combustion performance. Turbulent combustion is a topic of interest to Nordita and was also to topic of a Program on Combustion in 2010. The classical combustion paradigm is based on and implies to large extend the use of a simplified one-step global chemical reaction model. Even though a considerable progress has been achieved in qualitative understanding of the combustion physics, the model does not provide quantitatively correct results necessary for practical use, and can be even qualitatively incorrect especially the case of non-stationary processes. It is not surprising that current combustion modeling tools are insufficiently accurate and do not cope with modern demands and standards for environment from engine manufactures.

Michael is now focusing on the fundamental study of combustion processes for the development of new technologies for more efficient and cleaner use of hydrocarbon fuels and for the improvement of combustion safety, related to the use and/or storage of highly reactive mixtures (hydrogen safety). His work includes both theoretical and analytical study, high performance numerical simulations of a wide diversity of combustion processes and the development of methods and technological solutions with improved efficiency of energy production of the processes involving combustion of fossil fuel, and stabilized lean combustion for reduced emissions. His work also aims at the theoretical study of gas-discharge plasma-stimulated activation of combustion of fuel-air mixtures to identify ways of actively controlling the rate of combustion of air-fuel mixtures by reducing the time of ignition to increase the burning rate and to reduce harmful emissions.