The collaboration between the Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC) at KAUST and the Fuel Technology (FT) team at Saudi Aramco is divided into two broader research categories: basic combustion and applied combustion. Basic combustion research focuses on experimentation and modelling of fuel combustion in idealized reactor configurations. Applied combustion research targets the study of fuel-engine interactions in practical devices.
The goal of this program is basic combustion research, focusing on first-principle-based fuel characterization to link fundamental measurements, such as ignition delay and flame speed, to fuel chemistry through RON, MON and cetane numbers. As part of this effort, the chemical and physical combustion aspects of petroleum fuel components are examined in detail. This investigation is based mainly on experimental data from shock tubes, rapid compression machines, ignition quality testers and CFR engines. High-pressure isochoric combustion vessels are used to study flame structures and progression under different mixing and combustion conditions. Laser-based diagnostic techniques are used to visualize the combustion process and clarify the micro effects of fuel structure and composition on combustion quality and pollutant formation mechanisms.