Fundamentals of Combustion Lecture Note

These are lecture notes for AME 60636, Fundamentals of Combustion, a course taught since 1994 in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering of the University of Notre Dame. Most of the students in this course are graduate students; the course is also suitable for interested undergraduates. The objective of the course is to provide background in theoretical combustion science. Most of the material in the notes is covered in one semester; some extra material is also included.

The goal of the notes is to provide a solid mathematical foundation in the physical chemistry, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics of combustion. The notes attempt to fill gaps in the existing literature in providing enhanced discussion of detailed kinetics models which are in common use for real physical systems. In addition, some model problems for paradigm systems are addressed for pedagogical purposes. Many of the unique aspects of these notes, which focus on some fundamental issues involving the thermodynamics of reactive gases with detailed finite rate kinetics, have arisen due to the author’s involvement in a research project supported by the US National Science Foundation, under Grant No. CBET-0650843. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

The author is grateful for this public support. Thanks are also extended to my former student Dr. Ashraf al-Khateeb, who generated the steady laminar flame plots for detailed hydrogen-air combustion. General thanks are due to students in the course over the years whose interest has motivated me to find ways to improve the material.