Affordable Clean Energy: Challenges and Opportunities

By Hukam C. Mongia

Chief Combustion Technologist, GE Aviation, Cincinnati, OH

Published on

Abstract

The technical presentation is built around the August 9th 2008 ABC News/Planet Green/Stanford Poll on Environment/Energy in which the majority of the people polled expressed support for the following ideas:

  1. Increase fuel efficiency standards (*implies improving energy conversion efficiency)
  2. Allowing drilling offshore and in wilderness areas; restricting oil trade speculation; and raising taxes on oil profits (*implies increasing fuel production from alternate sources including coal so as to have a comfortable margin between demand and supply for market stability)
  3. People and businesses are responsible for causing the global warming, which is happen-ing now and threatens today’s children. The melting of the polar ice, and perhaps the Southeast Asian storms, are associated with global warming. People are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint and would like to have in place a cost-effective cap-and- trade policy for greenhouse gases, GHG (*implies fuel production and consumption need to find cost-effective solutions within a carbon-constrained environment)
  4. Government should put in more effort into reducing GHG (*implies working collabora-tively with the national labs and funding agencies).

An overview will be given on the current status and projections for energy consumption; CO2, SOx/NOx emissions; and plausible solutions will be offered for the items marked * in several areas including:

(a) Super and ultra-supercritical PC boilers
(b) Biomass/coal Gasification
(c) Coal-fired gas turbine rich-zone combustion zone conversion to compact gasifier
(d) Spark ignition (SI), compression ignition (CI), and hybrid SI/CI for highly supercharged (hyperbar) engines
(e) Fuel-flexible volume combustion gas turbine combustors

Bio

Hukam C. Mongia, a 1965 graduate of Punjab Engineering College with MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Mongia joined Garrett Engine Company in 1972. He has been involved in the design and development of numerous advanced technology and engine combustors and the formulation and successful application of empirical and analytical design methodology in the combustion design process. As a “Senior Engineering Manager” during 1981-2007 in three companies, 1981-1983 at Garrett (now Honeywell Aerospace), 1984-1993 at Allison (now Rolls Royce of North America), and January 1994-December 2007 at GE Aviation, Dr. Mongia has been responsible for providing leadership in developing technology, transition of technology into combustion products, design methodology and tools.

As Chief Combustion Technologist starting December 2007, Dr. Mongia is responsible for bridging the gap between combustion science and technology and addressing the most challenging combustion technology issues. Dr. Mongia is credited with more than 25 combustion patents and 200 (including >50 peer-reviewed) publications.

Cite this work

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

  • Hukam C. Mongia (2008), "Affordable Clean Energy: Challenges and Opportunities," https://nanohub.org/resources/5575.

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Time

Location

Armstrong 2326, Purdue University, West Lafayette

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