​Dr. Roberts’ research interests include experimental combustion, propulsion, and laser-based optical diagnostics for reacting flows.  Of fundamental interest is the complex interaction between the various length and velocity scales in turbulent flows and the chemical kinetics associated with combustion.  His focus is on understanding these interactions in canonical flames, using advanced techniques to measure scalar and vector quantities of interest.  He is currently building a unique high-pressure combustion capability at KAUST which will be used to understand combustion phenomena, particularly formation of pollutants such as soot, occurring in practical combustion hardware such as gas turbines and internal combustion engines.

• Sonoprocessing of oil: asphaltene declustering behind fine ultrasonic emulsions
  Colleoni, E., Guida, P., Canciani, C, Viciconte, G., Saxena, S., and Roberts, W.L.
  Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, vol. 98, 106476 (2023)
  
  
• A numerical study on the effect of the pressure on sustainable aviation fuel and jet fuel blends thermally-induced secondary atomization
  Guida, P., Ceschin, A., Canciani, C., Im, H., and Roberts, W.L.
  Physics of Fluids, Vol. 35, issue 6 (2023)
  
  
• Time-resolved low-pressure air-assisted spray performance and unsteadiness evaluation
  Wu, H., Zhang, Z., Zhang, F., and Roberts, W.L.
  Physics of Fluids, 35 (4), 043335 (2023) 
  
  
• Mixing and flame structure study of inverse swirl diffusion flames
  Elbaz, A.M., Ahmed, M.M.A, Albalawi, A.M, Roberts, W.L.
  Experimental Thermal Fluid Science, 147, 110946 (2023)
  
  
• A comprehensive experimental and kinetic model study of laminar flame propagation of ammonia blended with propene
  Elbaz, A.M., Giri, B.R., Shrestha, K.P., Arab, O.Z., Farooq, A., Mauss, F., and Roberts, W.L.
  Combustion and Flame 253, 112791 (2023)
  
• Wire density for a wetted-wire column
  Wagstaff, C.B., Gubba, S., Truscott, T., Algashgari, K., Roberts, W.L.
  Chemical Engineering Science, 273, 118633 (2023)
  
  
• Experimental investigation of the stability and emission characteristics of premixed formic acid-methane-air flames in a swirl combustor
  Zhu, X, Wang, S., Elbaz, A.M., Younes, M., Jamal, A., Guiberti, T.F., and Roberts, W.L.
  International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 48(15) pp. 6120-6129 (2023)
  
  
• On the stability and characteristics of biogas/methane/air flames fired by a double swirl burner
  Abdulnaim, A., Elkholy, A., Elmously, M., Moneib, H., Roberts, W.L., and Elbaz, A.M.
  Flow, Turbulence and Combustion 1-17 (2023)
  
  
• Flame synthesis of carbon and metal-oxide nanoparticles: Flame types, effects of combustion parameters on properties and measurement methods
  Serrano-Bayona, R., Chu, C., Liu, P., and Roberts, W.L.
  Materials 16(3) 1192 (2023)
  
  
• Stability Characteristics of an Actively Valved Resonant Pulse Combustor
  Zhu, X., Lisanti, J.C, Guiberti, T.F., and Roberts, W.L.
  Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, 145 (6) (2023)
  
  
• Influence of the pilot flame on the morphology and exhaust emissions of NH3-CH4-air swirl flames using a reduced-scale burner at atmospheric pressure
  Jimenez, C.D.A., Cardona, S., Juaied, M., Younes, M., Jamal, A., Guiberti, T.F., and Roberts, W.L.
  Energies 16(1) 231 (2023)
  
  
• Thermal decomposition characteristics of the tire pyrolysis oil derived from a twin-auger reactor: study of kinetics and evolved gases
  Campuzano, F., Ordonez, J., Martinex, J.D., Agudelo, A. F., Sarathy, S.M., and Roberts, W. L.
  FUEL 338, 127248 (2023)
  
  
• Experimental assessment of the performance of a commercial micro gas turbine fueled by ammonia-methane blends
  Avila, C., Cardona, S., Abdullah, M., Younes, M., Jamal, A., Guiberti, T.F., and Roberts, W.L.
  Applications in Energy and Combustion Science 13, 100104 (2023)
  
  
• Turbulent flame speed and NO emission study of NH3/H2/air and CH4/air flames in a constant volume combustion chamber (CVCC)
  Wang, S., Elbaz, A.M., Arab, O.Z., and Roberts, W.L.
  FUEL 332, 126152 (2023) 
  
  
• Turbulent flame speed of NH3/CH4/H2/H2O/air mixtures: Effects of elevated pressure and Lewis number
  Wang, S., Elbaz, A.M., Want, G., Wang, Z., and Roberts, W.L.
  Combustion and Flame 247, 112488 (2023)
  
  
• Pressure Effects on Soot Formation and Evolution in Turbulent Jet Flames
  Zhou, D., Zou, S., Boyette, W.R., Guiberti, T.F., Roberts, W.L., and Suo, Y.
  Physics of Fluids 35, 015105 (2023)
  
  
• Computationally-derived submodel for thermally-induced secondary atomization
  Guida, P., Ceshin, A., Hernandez Perez, F.E., Im, H.G., and Roberts, W.L.
  Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer 199, 123448 (2022)
  
  
• Assessment of physical soot inception model in normal and inverse laminar diffusion flames
  Guo, J., Liu, P., Quadarella, E., Yalmanchi, K., Alsheikh, I., Chu, C., Liu, F., Sarathy, M.S., Roberts, W.L., and Im, H.G.
  Combustion and Flame 246, 112420 (2022)
  
  
• MILD combustion of methane in a model combustor with an inverse-diffusion flame configuration
  Tu, Y., Liu, H., Guiberti, T.F., and Roberts, W.L.
  FUEL 328 125315 (2022)
  
  
• Numerical model of ultrasonically induced cavitation reactor and application to heavy oil processing
  Guida, P., Viciconte, G., Ceshin, A., Colleoni, E., Saxena, S., Im, H.G., Roberts, W.L., and Hernandez-Perez, F.
  Chemical Engineering Journal Advances 12, 100362 (2022) 
  
• Oxidative desulfurization of model compounds and crude oil using Mo/Ti-DMSN catalyst and a detailed molecular characterization of sulfur species
  Fan, J., Chen, A., Saxena, S., Li, H., Zhang, W., Castano, P., and Roberts, W.L.
  Catalysis Today, 404 pp. 253-261 (2022) 

• Molecular characteristics of sulfur compounds in oxidative desulfurization for heavy fuel oil based on APPI FT-ICR MS analysis
  Jiyuan Fan, Saumitra Saxena; Chengkun Xiao; Jinlin Mei; Gang Wang; Aiping Chen; Wen Zhang; Haidong Li; Arjun Duan, and William L Roberts
  Catalysis Today 404 pp. 262-268 (2022)
  
• Soot production in high pressure inverse diffusion flames with enriched oxygen in the oxidizer stream
  Liu, P., Chu, C., Alsheikh, I., Gubba, S., Saxena, S., Chatakonda, O., Kloosterman, J., Liu, F., and Roberts, W.L.
  Combustion and Flame 245, 112378 (2022)
  
• Scalar structure of turbulent non-premixed NH3/H2/N2 jet flames at elevated pressure using Raman spectroscopy
  Tang, H., Yang, C., Wang, G, Krishna, Y., Guiberti, T., Roberts, W.L., and Magnotti, G.
  Combustion and Flame 244, 112292 (2022)
  
• An experimental and kinetic modeling of 1,3-dioxolane oxidation and comparison with dimethoxymethane
  Shrestha, K., Elbaz, A., Binod, G., Omar, A., Adil, M., Seidel, L., Roberts, W.L., Farooq, A., and Mauss, F.
  Energy and Fuels, 36(14) pp. 7744-7754 (2022)
  
• Numerical study of heat release rate markers in laminar premixed ammonia-methane-air flames
  Zhu, X., Guiberti, T.F., and Roberts, W.L.
  FUEL 318 123599 (2022)
  
• Detailed investigation of the mixing field and stability of natural gas and propane in highly turbulent planar flames
  Elbaz, A.M., Mansour, M.S., Akoush, B., Zayed, M.F., Juddoo, M., Khedr, A.M., Mousa, M.M.A, Al-Bulqini, H.M., Roberts, W.L., and Masri, A.R.
  FUEL 309, 122222 (2002)
  
• The effects of injector size on the dynamics and instabilities of lean premixed swirling flame
  Guoqing Wagn, Liangliang Xu; Lei Li; Xunchen Liu; Fei Qi; Thibault F. Guiberti; William L. Roberts
  Aerospace Science and Technology 123 107463 (2022)
  
• Simultaneous imaging of NO an NH in an ammonia-hydrogen-nitrogen flame using a single dye laser
  Wang, G., Shi, H., Roberts, W.L., and Guiberti, T.F.
  Combustion and Flame 245, 112355 (2022)
  
• Swirling flame combustion of heavy fuel oil blended with diesel: Effect of asphaltene concentration
  Pei, X., Tian, H., and Roberts, W.L.
  Energies 15(17), 6156 (2022)

• ​Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1992
• B.S.E, Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1986 

• Chairman for the Eastern States Section of the Combustion Institute, beginning two year term Oct 2011 (previously held Vice-Chair, Program Chair, Papers Chair, Local Arrangements Chair positions)
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (senior member, member of Propellants and Combustion TC)
• American Chemical Society
• Society of Automotive Engineers 

• Inaugural Progress Energy Faculty Fellow, Dept. of Mech. & Aero. Eng, 2002
• Inaugural BASF Undergraduate Research Award, Dept of Mech. & Aero. Eng, 2000
• NSF CAREERs Award recipient 1996
• ARO Young Investigators Award recipient, 1995 

• ​Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC)
• Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE)