News
07/24: EPL awarded AFOSR grant to study fuel droplet dynamics at supercritical conditions
EPL has been awarded a 3 year project from AFOSR through a DEPSCoR grant to study dynamics of fuel droplets at supercritical conditions. Dynamics include oscillation, evaporation, and collisions of single droplets of hydrocarbon fuels at elevated temeperatures and pressures of relevance to Air Force propulsion systems. We are partnering with Missouri S&T and Prof. Liang who will conduct multi-scale modeling of droplet dynamics. More information is available in this press release. link
01/24: Mohana sucessfully defends his PhD thesis!
Mohana Gurunadhan defended his thesis titled, "Numerical Simulation of Hybrid Propulsion System with Liquefying Fuels". Mohana is starting a position with Ansys following his PhD.
12/23: Dr. Menon awarded Worley Professor of Excellence Award
Dr. Menon has been named as a recipient of the Worley Professor of Excellence Award. Dr Menon’s recognition came during LSU’s game against Georgia State in Tiger Stadium and was presented by Allen Guiher, Worley Baton Rouge Operations, Senior Vice President, and Walt Holliday, Executive Director at the Cox Communication Academic Center for Student Athletes.
10/23: Varun successfully defends his PhD thesis!
Varun Viswamithra defended his thesis titled, "Development, Implementation, And Evaluation Of Swirl-Combustion Strategies For Optimal Performance Of Ammonia As A Fuel For Gas Turbine Engines". Varun is taking up a post-doctoral researcher position at the University of California - Irvine following his PhD.
08/23: Joshua and Naga join EPL
Joshua Moore and Naga Guntapalli are two new PhD students joining EPL. Joshua will be working on an industry funded fiber conveying and processing project while Naga will be working on the DOE funded SAF project. Welcome to both!
04/23: EPL awarded DoD DURIP grant for equipment purchase
EPL has been awarded a DURIP grant for equipment purchase to support ongoing research on molten particle adhesion on turbine blade surfaces funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The DURIP grant titled, "Laser surface profilometer and infra-red camera for in-situ studies of surface deposition in high-enthalpy, particle-laden flows" will fund purchase of equipment to conduct in-situ, transient studies of particle driven erosion and deposition on hot sections of turbine blades in the multi-phase, hot-cascade experiment at LSU.
12/22: Faculty research grant - Phase 3 award
EPL is part of a group led by Prof. Suniti Karunatillake from LSU-Geology that was awarded a two-year $250K award to advance concepts for a MARS mission called Gangotri to be pitched to NASA. Scope of work includes identifying key science data return and mission design concepts for a NASA Discovery or NASA New Frontiers class mission. A 17-member team involves 4 NASA centers, 1 national lab, 1 European space center, and 2 space companies.
12/22: NSF CAREER award!
Dr. Menon receives the prestigious NSF CAREER award for a project titled, "CAREER: Towards Understanding and Control of Particle-Laden Flows Impacting Material Surfaces". The five-year, $534,082 award will fund research and education initiatives driven by fundamental and applied research on surface-impinging, particle-laden gas flows operating at low- and high- speed and temperature conditions.10/22: Busy year for EPL with 6 journal paper publications!
2022 has been a highly productive year for EPL with 6 journal papers published and 1 currently under review. Publications include those in AIAA J. Propulsion & Power, Int. J. Multiphase Flow, Int. J. Thermophysics, ASME J. Gas Turbines and Power, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, and Int. J. Molecular Sciences! Congratulations all and amazing work!
10/22: Connor defends his MS thesis!
Connor Becnel successfully defended his MS thesis work on TDLAS-based measurements in a hybrid rocket combustor. Congratulations Connor!
09/22: EPL secures DOE funding to study sustainable aviation fuels
EPL has been awarded a 3 year, $1.14 M award by the Department of Energy to study sustainable aviation fuels. The title of the project is "A small volume, property measurement-based, pre-screening approach for sustainable aviation fuels enabled by functional relationship development using multi-fidelity machine learning algorithms". The official DOE announcement can be found here: DOE link
News item on CoE website: CoE news
A big thanks to all Co-PI's (Dr. Owoyele, Dr. Schoegl, Dr. Boldor) and DOE National Lab collaborators (NREL, ANL)!
09/22: Varun completes his general exam
Varun Viswamithra successfully completed his PhD general exam. Congratulations Varun!
05/22: ONR award
The EPL has received an award from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) on a project titled, "Molten particle adhesion study in a multiphase turbine test rig".
03/22: EPL researchers present work at Eastern states combustion institute meeting in Orlando, FL
Several EPL researchers (Varun, Mohana, Connor, and James) presented their research at the Eastern States Combustion Institute meeting held at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. Good job everyone!03/22: Darren update
Darren Dehesa is joining Boeing as a Manufacturing Engineer to work on the NASA SLS project. He will be working at the Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans. Congratulations Darren!
10/21: Wanjun defends her PhD thesis!
Wanjun Dang successfully defended her PhD thesis becoming the first PhD graduate from EPL. Congratulations Wanjun ! and thank you very much to her PhD committee for their guidance and support.
08/21: Wanjun's paper accepted in Atomization and Sprays
A paper by Wanjun Dang (lead author) on temperature effects on droplet oscillation decay has been published in the journal "Atomization and Sprays".
10/20: Darren successfully defends his MS thesis!
Darren Dehesa successfully defended his MS thesis. Thank you to the thesis committee. Good job Darren!09/20: LaSPACE NASA EPSCoR REA award
The EPL has received a Research Enhancement Award from LaSPACE to investigate high-speed particle-laden jets simulating rocket plume impingement. EPL will collaborate with NASA JPL to conduct the investigation and generate data relevant to plume-surface interaction.
07/20: LaSPACE GSRA Award
James Leung from EPL has been awarded the LaSPACE Graduate Student Research Assistantship (GSRA) award to further his graduate school studies and research.04/20: Wanjun’s work accepted for publication in Measurement Science & Technology
A journal paper from Wanjun’s work on fuel viscosity and surface tension measurements has been accepted for publication in Measurement Science and Technology.
08/19: EPL researchers to present at AIAA Propulsion & Energy Forum in Indianapolis
Our group has four presentations at this meeting:
- Wanjun Dang: AIAA-2019-4447: Small-volume, High-throughput Techniques for Fuel Physical Property Measurements
- Darren Dehesa: AIAA-2019-4303: Modeling of Hybrid-Electric Powertrain for Unmanned Aerial Systems
- Shyam Menon: AIAA-2019-4223: Characterization of spray structures formed during water injection into a free supersonic air jet
- Mohana Gurunathan: AIAA-2019-4415: Numerical Simulation of Combustion in a Hybrid Rocket with Liquefying Fuels
08/19: Hansen’s work accepted for publication in Experiments in Fluids
A journal paper from Hansen’s work on water injection into supersonic crossflow has been accepted for publication in Experiments in Fluids.06/19: James Leung joins the lab
James Leung is a Ph.D. student who will be working on droplet behavior in high-speed flows. He received his BS and MS degrees from Michigan State University. Welcome James!06/19: LaSPACE GSRA Award
Darren Dehesa from EPL has been awarded the LaSPACE Graduate Student Research Assistantship (GSRA) award to further his graduate school studies and research.01/19: NASA EPSCoR RAP award
A NASA EPSCoR RAP award to the Energy and Propulsion Laboratory will pursue the development of a 3D-printed liquid fuel injection system for low-NOx gas turbine combustors. This work will involve collaboration with NASA Glenn to design the injection system and develop laser diagnostics to evaluate the performance of the system.01/19: Varun Viswamithra joins the lab
Varun Viswamithra is a Ph.D. student who will be working on a novel liquid fuel injection system for gas turbine combustors. He received his BS degree from Visvesvaraya Technological Institute in Belgaum, India and an MS degree from the University of Texas-Arlington. Welcome Varun!11/18: Dr. Menon to present at APS DFD meeting in Atlanta
Dr. Menon will be traveling to the APS DFD meeting in Atlanta, GA on Nov. 18-20. Dr. Menon will present on water injection into a free supersonic jet as well as on utilization of droplet oscillations to measure fluid physical properties on behalf of Hansen and Wanjun respectively.10/18: Hansen successfully defends MS thesis!
Hansen Jones, the first graduate student from EPL has successfully defended his MS thesis. He now goes on to do great things at SpaceX!! Congrats Hansen!!
08/18: AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory) award
The Energy and Propulsion Laboratory has received funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to conduct research on hybrid powertrains for small unmanned air systems (UAS). This is a two-year award for the lab with co-investigators from Southern University in Baton Rouge and Oregon State University
08/18: Darren Dehesa joins the lab
Darren Dehesa is a Master’s student who will be working on hybrid powertrain development for unmanned air vehicles. He is a graduate of the MIE department at LSU from Spring 2018. Welcome Darren!
7/18: EPL to present research at 14th ICLASS meeting in Chicago
Hansen Jones, Wanjun Dang, and Dr. Menon will be traveling to the 14th 14TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LIQUID ATOMIZATION & SPRAY SYSTEMS meeting in Chicago, IL on July. 22-26. Hansen Jones will present his paper titled, “Investigation Of Water Jet Breakup Behavior In Crossflow With A Supersonic Air Jet” and Wanjun Dang will present her paper titled, “Evaporation Of Single Droplets Of Multicomponent Liquid Fuel Blends At Elevated Temperatures”.
Hansen also received a travel award from ICLASS to attend the conference. Wanjun received a travel award from the graduate school to attend the conference.
7/18: EPL to present research at AIAA Propulsion and Energy meeting
Hansen Jones and Dr. Menon will be traveling to the AIAA Propulsion and Energy meeting in Cincinnati, OH on July 9-11. Hansen Jones will present our paper titled, “Investigation of water jet breakup by supersonic rocket exhaust “.
Hansen received a travel award from the graduate school to attend the conference.
04/18: Hansen wins award for best graduate student presentation
Hansen Jones won the award for the best graduate student presentation at the annual Graduate Student Conference held by the MIE department. Congratulations Hansen!11/17: EPL researchers to present at APS DFD meeting in Denver
Hansen Jones, Wei Zhao, and Dr. Menon will be traveling to the APS DFD meeting in Denver, CO on Nov. 19-21. Hansen Jones will present on rocket plume diagnostics and Dr. Menon will present on fuel droplet generation on behalf of Wanjun and Wei.
Hansen and Wei received travel awards from APS. In addition Wei also received an LSU Discover award to support travel expenses to the conference.
10/17: Dr. Menon to talk at Air Force Research Laboratory
Dr. Menon will be presenting work on small engines for UAV applications at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH.08/17: Wanjun Dang joins the lab
Wanjun Dang is a Ph.D. student who will be working on fuel droplet generation using a piezo-electric droplet generator. She will be also working on modeling the process with an aim to extract physical properties of unknown fuels.07/17: LaSPACE GSRA Award
Hansen Jones from EPL has been awarded the LaSPACE Graduate Student Research Assistantship (GSRA) award to further his graduate school studies and research.05/17: LaSPACE NASA EPSCoR REA award
The EPL has received a Research Enhancement Award from LaSPACE to develop non-intrusive temperature diagnostics for a rocket exhaust plume using tunable laser diodes. EPL will collaborate with NASA Marshall and Stennis Space Centers to develop the technique and provide measurement data for code validation.01/17: Hansen Jones joins the lab
Hansen Jones is pursuing an MS degree and doing his research on rocket engines.
01/17: DOE-OPTIMA award
Insert The Energy and Propulsion Laboratory will share in a Department of Energy award to develop a micro-liter fuel testing apparatus for screening next generation fuels (DOE announcement).
12/16: NASA EPSCoR RAP award
A NASA EPSCoR RAP award to the Energy and Propulsion Laboratory will utilize experimental methods to investigate the exhaust plume of a rocket engine. This work will involve collaboration with Stennis Space Center to develop and validate simulation codes for ground-based rocket testing facilities.
08/16: Dr. Menon joins MIE at LSU
Dr. Menon joins MIE at LSU. Energy and Propulsion Laboratory is launched at LSU.