Cleaner Power through Rotating Detonation: Advanced Emissions Diagnostics and Environmental Impact Assessment
Project Description
Growing electricity demand from AI infrastructure is sharpening the need for efficient, dispatchable power with lower environmental burdens. Rotating detonation engines (RDEs) could raise gas-turbine efficiency through pressure-gain combustion, yet their emissions remain poorly characterized under continuous, turbine-integrated operation. Conventional extractive sampling is uncertain in the strongly unsteady, spatially nonuniform RDE exhaust.
At Purdue’s Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, the Gilbreth Fellow will lead an interdisciplinary assessment of a DOE-supported natural-gas RDE integrated with an M250 turboshaft engine at temperatures above 2,300 K with rapid oscillations. The fellow will (1) develop and validate a time- and space-resolved exhaust-sampling strategy tailored to rotating-detonation flow; (2) quantify combustion completeness, NOx, greenhouse gases, unburned hydrocarbons, and particulate matter while linking emissions to detonation dynamics, turbine response, and efficiency; and (3) evaluate the environmental impacts of natural-gas and hydrogen operation by integrating measured emissions, fuel consumption, power output, and air-quality and climate indicators.
The project couples environmental impact assessment with combustion, turbomachinery, and high-speed diagnostics. It will deliver a validated emissions methodology, performance–emissions maps, and design guidance for cleaner detonation-based power. The Fellow will have exceptional access to Zucrow’s continuous-flow facilities and freedom to shape an independent research direction spanning two Purdue engineering schools.
Start Date
March 1, 2027 (flexible within calendar year 2027)
Postdoc Qualifications
Applicants should hold, or be completing, a PhD in environmental, mechanical, aerospace, or chemical engineering; combustion science; energy systems; or a closely related field, and must satisfy the Gilbreth Fellowship eligibility requirements. We seek an experimentalist who can work safely and independently in large-scale, high-temperature/high-pressure facilities and collaborate across disciplines. Strong candidates will have experience in one or more of the following: gas-turbine or rotating-detonation combustion; exhaust sampling and instrument calibration; FTIR, GC/MS, continuous emissions analyzers, FID, or particulate measurements; high-speed data acquisition and signal processing; uncertainty quantification; or emissions and environmental-impact modeling. Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or comparable analysis tools is expected. Experience with environmental impact assessment, emission-factor development, air-quality interpretation, or hydrogen combustion is desirable but not required. Excellent scientific writing, teamwork, and mentoring skills are essential. The Fellow will be encouraged to define a distinctive research thrust, publish across combustion and environmental-engineering venues, and lead follow-on proposals.
Co-advisors
Nadezhda (“Nadya”) Zyaykina — Research Assistant Professor, School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering, Purdue University — nzyaykina@purdue.edu — https://engineering.purdue.edu/SEE/People/ptProfile?group_id=300899&resource_id=118637
Guillermo Paniagua — Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics (by courtesy), School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University — gpaniagua@purdue.edu — https://engineering.purdue.edu/PETAL/
Bibliography
1. Ferguson, D. H.; O’Meara, B.; Roy, A.; Johnson, K. “Experimental Measurements of NOx Emissions in a Rotating Detonation Engine.” AIAA SciTech 2020 Forum, AIAA 2020-0204 (2020). https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2020-0204
2. Strakey, P. A.; Ferguson, D. H. “Experimental Measurements and CFD Predictions of NOx Emissions from a Water-Cooled Rotating Detonation Engine.” Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2023, GT2023-100851 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2023-100851
3. Van Beck, C.; Raman, V. “NOx Formation Processes in Rotating Detonation Engines.” Frontiers in Aerospace Engineering 3 (2024): 1335906. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpace.2024.1335906
4. Journell, C. L.; Walters, I. V.; Stout, J. B.; Lemcherfi, A.; Gejji, R. M.; Slabaugh, C. D. “High-Speed Diagnostics in a Natural Gas–Air Rotating Detonation Engine.” Journal of Propulsion and Power 36, no. 4 (2020): 498–507. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.B37740
5. Sousa, J.; Paniagua, G.; Collado Morata, E. “Thermodynamic Analysis of a Gas Turbine Engine with a Rotating Detonation Combustor.” Applied Energy 195 (2017): 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.03.045