João da Cruz Vargas, Ph.D.

Alumni

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research Interests

Non-equilibrium phenomena are the overall theme of my research interest, particularly I specialize in kinetic and radiative state-to-state modelling in systems that display vibrational non-equilibrium features. During my time at KAUST I will apply state-to-state modelling to detonation problems, particularly on H2-O2 and H2-air mixtures for 0D and 1D simulations. The focus on these mixtures, is motivated by the potential benefits in efficiency for combustion. Beyond that, the scope of my work is extended to the reduction of complex state-to-state models into the so-called "engineering models" used in 2D or 3D numerical simulations.

Selected Publications

Education

  • Ph.D. Engineering Physics, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal, 2020
  • MSc. Engineering Physics, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal, 2015

Professional Profile

  • 2021-present: Postdoctoral Fellow, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
  • 2018-2019: Visiting Scholar, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Illinois, USA
  • 2016-2020: PhD Researcher, Instituto for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

KAUST Affiliations

  • Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC)

  • Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE)

Research Interests Keywords

Non-Equilibrium Flows State-to-State Modelling Chemical kinetics Radiative Transfer High-Temperature Gases Detonation