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Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Fall 2014 Seminar Series
Seminar Title: Nanosecond Pulse-Driven Transient Plasmas for Combustion
Time: 3:00-4:00 PM, Friday, Sep 19, 2014
Location: ECE 101 Lankford Lab
Speaker:
M A Gundersen
University of Southern California
Abstract:
This is an application of nanosecond pulsed power: The application of a 12ns unipolar pulse for plasma
production is compared in applications to more traditional microwave generated plasma, and evidence of
improved pressures and efficiencies will be presented. These include initiation of combustion in fuel-air
mixtures wherein the electron energy distribution is fundamentally different, sometimes appearing as
streamers with space-charge limited streamer heads. Understanding the dynamics of nanosecond streamer
discharges in air and in fuel-air mixtures at multi-atmospheric pressures is needed for applications of the
non-equilibrium plasma assisted combustion processes in a variety of engines and with various fuels.
Pressure inside internal combustion engines, where transient plasma can be applied to improve
combustion efficiency and peak pressure, can be very high. Cathode-directed streamer discharges and
streamer propagation characteristics in synthetic air at pressures ranging from 1 to 22 bar are reported, and
extension of these methods to fuel-air mixtures, including methane and diesel fuel, will be discussed. The
discharges are investigated by optical, electrical and theoretical (phenomenological) methods. Streamer
velocity scaling for higher pressures as a function of applied voltage, pressure and reduced electric field,
E/P, is measured, and the scaling compared with the result of dimensional analysis. Transient plasma is
shown to be useful for improving ignition and combustion in a range of fuels. This work has been
supported by grants from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the TCC Corp., the National Science
Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and Nissan Corp.
Speaker Bio:
Martin Gundersen is Lloyd F. Hunt Professor of Electrical Power Engineering and Professor of Electrical
Engineering, Physics, and Materials Science at the University of Southern California. He served as Chair
of Electrical Engineering–Electrophysics at USC from 1998 to 2003. He has published over 350 scientific
papers, graduated 30 PhD students in EE, Physics and Materials Science, is a Life Fellow of the IEEE,
Fellow of the OSA, has received some awards, served in technical meetings, and worked on a couple of
Hollywood things. He was a faculty member at Texas Tech before joining the faculty at USC.