Dr. Elbaz is a senior research scientist at the Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC), KAUST, Saudi Arabia. He obtained his PhD degree in mechanical power engineering from Helwan University, Cairo, in 2008. He has a Fulbright visiting assistance professor grant at Faculty of Engineering, Vanderbilt University, USA (2009-2010). There he worked on developing the N₂O molecular tagging velocimetry technique for supersonic flow measurements. Then, Helwan University hired him as an assistant professor (2011-2012) before joining CCRC, KAUST 2012 as a post-doctor. In 2013 Dr. Elbaz took the position of research scientist at KAUST, and recently got promoted to a senior research scientist.

Abstract

Laminar Flame Speed Measurements of Ammonia Blended with Dimethyl Ether

The energy sector’s decarbonization is a complex process and includes different approaches aiming for the stepwise movement to a low carbon mobility future. Ammonia as an alternative fuel is considered essential to this transition as an energy carrier, a carbon-free molecule with high energy density, and its production and distribution infrastructure is well-established. With the traditional NH₃ production, green ammonia production highlights the importance of further development to implement ammonia as a building block in the global low-carbon energy landscape. However, the low reactivity of ammonia hinders its application for power generation. Therefore, one feasible way to boost the reactivity of ammonia is to go for a dual-fuel system by adding combustion promoters. Thus, the combustion properties of ammonia were investigated by blending it with various proportions of dimethyl ether (DME), where a constant volume spherical reactor (CVSR) was used to measure the laminar burning velocity. DME is a reactive fuel produced in the sustainable carbon cycle reaching a net zero-carbon emission. To this end, my talk will focus on the laminar flame speed of NH₃/DME blends.