Research in the Environmental Engineering group is conducted in the following areas: laboratory-scale incineration of hazardous wastes, high pressure combustion of gaseous and liquid fuels, kinetics of formation of hazardous air pollutants, materials compatibility studies, thermal decomposition of organic materials, ignition and emission characterization of alternate fuels (bio and F-T), mercury emissions from coal combustion, air toxic emissions from domestic appliances (wood stove, wood-fired boilers, etc.) and burning of domestic waste (open burning), development of novel chromatographic techniques, and in situ catalytic treatment of hazardous materials.
Fully-equipped laboratory facilities include thermal instrumentation systems ranging from high-temperature, fused silica flow reactors, diffusion flame reactor, post-combustion gas-solid reactor system, and a modified cone calorimeter, to high-pressure, high-temperature shock tubes; analytical techniques including gas chromatography, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, multidimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, and continuous gas analyzers; and laser-based systems for in situ kinetic studies of combustion and atmospheric chemistry.
Computational capabilities include the application of molecular orbital and molecular dynamic theories, application of kinetic theories including transition state and RRKM theories, and the development and simulation of detailed chemical reaction mechanisms for combustion systems.
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