Reacting Flows


Reacting Flow Research at the CRF is focused on revealing and understanding the interactions between fluid dynamics and combustion chemistry that affect the performance and emissions of combustion devices. Many aspects of the complex interaction between fluid flow and chemistry can now be explored nonintrusively using state-of-the-art laser-based optical diagnostics. Complementary diagnostics are applied to a wide variety of flames in the Turbulent Diffusion Flame (TDF) laboratory, the Turbulent Combustion Laboratory (TCL), and the Advanced Imaging Research Laboratory.

Our goal is to accelerate progress toward predictive capabilities that can guide design, operation, and fuel formulation for practical combustion devices. Therefore, experimental research is conducted in close collaboration with computational scientists and turbulent combustion modelers at Sandia and around the world. The rapid advancement of computational technologies is making it possible to directly couple experimental measurements with modeling and simulation capabilities. Thus, experimental apparatus and simulation tools are often designed for fundamental studies of 'building block' flows, such as unsteady laminar flames, homogeneous turbulence, shear layers, and simple jet flames. The resulting strong coupling among experiment, theory, modeling, and simulation provides an extremely powerful approach to understanding the complex combustion process.