Contact: Prof. C.T. Avedisian

Email: cta2@cornell.edu

Phone: 255-5105

Office: 193 Grumman Hall

'Combustion of Fuel Droplets in Microgravity'

This project concerns studying soot formation under zero gravity conditions for a burning fuel droplet. Zero gravity removes some of the complexities of burning under strong natural or 'buoyant' convection. In zero gravity, the burning process is 'spherically symmetric' and the soot which forms is trapped in a spherical 'shell' between the droplet and flame. See the mini poster on the board opposite to 112 Upson Hall for typical photographs of burning droplets in microgravity. The aspects we want to study include soot formation because its impact on a clean environment and the influence of additives and ambient pressure on controlling soot. An experiment which is similar in design will be flown aboard the Space Shuttle with a scheduled flight of May 2003, using much larger droplets (over 2mm diameter) to determine scaling between extremes of droplet size. Opportunities will exist to get involved with the design and analysis of the Space Shuttle experiment and results.

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