The talks are on:
Harif Fontecha
MSc. Student, supervised by Prof. Mani Sarathy
Authors: Harif Fontecha, Mani Sarathy
Abstract: Saudi Arabia is still in the gradual process of divesting its emissions from its economic growth. Besides, its population is expected to reach to 40 million by 2030. Together with its commitment to cooperate to curb climate change, this scenario poses a challenging future for the national electricity sector.
One way to curb the demand of electricity in the short-term is by increasing its price. For instance, there have been two waves of price changes in the last decade. Yet, the impact of new pricing policies over the demand may not be as significant as before. Not mentioning the social and political cost that they bring.
In this work, the regional
demand for electricity in the Kingdom is modeled under different policy
scenarios. Key aspects of the electricity system are presented highlighting the
main bottlenecks and our role as consumers. The role of other factors such as
the weather and income are also evaluated.
Bio: Harif Fontecha is a current MSc. student in Prof. Mani Sarathy’s group at the clean combustion research center (CCRC) at KAUST. He earned his Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and joined KAUST in 2021 as MSc/PhD student. His research focuses on modelling the demand and generation of electricity from fossil fuels and renewable sources.
Ponnya Hlaing
Ph.D. Student, supervised by Prof. James Turner and Prof. Hong Im
Authors: Ponnya Hlaing, Emre Cenker, Peter Larsson, Paul Ravenhill, Hong G. Im, James W. G. Turner
Abstract: The pre-chamber combustion concept (PCC) is a proven lean combustion technique in internal combustion engines with benefits in engine efficiency and reduced NOx emissions. The engine lean operation limit can be extended by supplying auxiliary fuel into the pre-chamber, thereby achieving mixture stratification inside the pre-chamber over the main chamber. Introducing liquid fuels into the pre-chambers is challenging owing to the small form factor of the pre-chamber. With a conventional injector, the fuel penetrates in liquid form and impinges on the pre-chamber walls, which leads to increased unburned hydrocarbon emissions from the pre-chamber. In this study, a prototype liquid fuel injector is introduced which preheats the fuel within a heater chamber fitted with an electrical heating element before injection into the pre-chamber. The experiments were conducted in a heavy-duty pre-chamber research engine using ethanol as the primary fuel. As a proof of concept, preheating the fuel prior to injection into the pre-chamber was found to improve the combustion stability with simultaneous reductions in engine-out unburned fuel and carbon monoxide emissions while requiring only low power requirements for effective fuel preheating.
Bio: Ponnya Hlaing is a current Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, supervised by Professor James W. G. Turner and Professor Hong G. Im. He graduated with a Master of Science in Marine Engineering degree from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom. He received his Bachelor of Engineering in Marine Engineering degree from the Myanmar Maritime University, Thanlyin, Myanmar. The author has a special interest in applications of pre-chamber-initiated combustion systems in the internal combustion engine of marine and heavy-duty engines.