ABOUT CRFEL
The Computational Reactive Flow & Energy Lab (CRFEL) is a laboratory at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It is directed by Prof. Suo Yang, who leads and guides his group to conduct research on the multi-physics & multi-scale modeling and numerical simulation (CFD) of turbulent reacting/multiphase flows in critical propulsion & energy systems (See Research for more info):
- High-pressure liquid-fueled propulsion & power for high efficiency & energy density;
- Plasma/catalysis-assisted combustion & fuel reforming/chemical manufacturing toward zero emission;
- Hypersonic propulsion & aerodynamics: supersonic combustion, detonation, hypersonic sonic boom;
- Multi-fidelity digital twin & physics-integrated machine learning modeling of reacting/multiphase flows for the hybrid feed-forward/back control of propulsion & power systems;
- Particles in combustion emission (e.g., soot) and nanomaterial synthesis (e.g., TiO2).
OUR VISION
Our research interests broadly encompass the first-principled multi-physics modeling and simulation of turbulent reacting/multiphase flows, spanning: combustion, plasma, particulate & gas-liquid flows, hypersonics, and their multi-scale interactions. Our goal is to develop and utilize high-fidelity, computationally efficient predictive tools to:
- Gain fundamental understanding of the physicochemical processes in turbulent reacting/multiphase flows.
- Design and control advanced propulsion & power-generation systems (reciprocating engines, gas-turbine jet engines, scramjets, rocket engines, detonation engines/tubes, chemical reactors, and hypersonic wave-riders / boost-glide vehicles, etc.) for energy sustainability: actual rocket science!
Overview of Our Primary Research Areas
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