Alex recently graduated from the University of Bath with an MEng in Mechanical with Automotive Engineering, during which he undertook a three-month placement at Horstman Defence Systems Limited and a year-long placement at Mammoet. It was during these placements that he developed an interest towards the research and development of low carbon and carbon neutral systems. Alex’s passion for internal combustion engines led him to join the university’s ICE Formula Student team – Team Bath Racing, during his penultimate year. During his time with the team, Alex conducted engine simulations of the team’s KTM 500 engine and designed the intake system. For his final year project titled ‘Analytical and Numerical Modelling of the Surface-to-Volume Ratio of a Two-Stage Wankel Engine’ and supervised by Dr Aaron Costall, Alex investigated the effects that the geometrical parameters of a two-stage Wankel engine have on its surface-to-volume ratio and proposed an optimised engine design for reduced thermal losses and improved thermal efficiency.
Hydrogen has emerged as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels for powering internal combustion engines as it is carbon neutral, can be produced in a sustainable way and has high energy density. As such, hydrogen engines offer a direct replacement of fossil fueled engines with additional benefits coming from the intrinsic properties of hydrogen - these include the ability to operate at ultra-lean conditions with high efficiency and low emissions. However, one of the key factors to unlocking further efficiency gains while retaining the safe and reliable operation of the engine remains the understanding of the autoignition process of hydrogen-air mixtures and how the autoignition is affected by the engine's intake air composition.
Therefore, the main goal of this research project is to improve the state-of-the-art modelling methods for hydrogen internal combustion engines and quantify the effects that intake charge composition has on the autoignition in hydrogen engines. This will be achieved by answering the following research questions:
How is the autoignition process of hydrogen modelled? What is the physical interpretation behind that? What is the state-of-the-art on this topic?
How can we improve the modelling process to increase the accuracy against test measurements? What is the implication on the complexity of the modelling technique?
How can we predictively model the combustion process of hydrogen with the necessary accuracy and computational efficiency? How can this be improved?
How does the composition of the intake charge affect the autoignition timing in hydrogen engines?
Can simplified modelling approaches accurately predict the impact of intake charge composition on engine performance metrics?
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