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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
PhD Project Template
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Use one form per project
Please complete & submit to international@nuigalway.ie as soon as possible, and by 27/11/2012
In your email, begin the subject line with [SWB] (be sure to use square brackets) to ensure that
your email is filed correctly. Emails will be automatically filed
PI name & contact details:
Dr Rory Monaghan
School:
Energy Systems Engineering
Has project been agreed with head
(or nominee) of proposed
registration school?
n/a
Research Centre / group
affiliation:
Member of:
Combustion Chemistry Centre (C3)
Informatics Research Unit for Sustainable Energy (IRUSE)
Research group / centre
http://c3.nuigalway.ie/
website:
http://www.nuigalway.ie/iruse/
PI website / link to CV:
http://c3.nuigalway.ie/staff/rory_monaghan.html
http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=10194626&trk=tab_pro
Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max):
 Advanced numerical techniques (CFD & reduced-order modelling) for thermo-fluid energy
applications
 Analysis & modelling of sustainable energy pathways & technology options
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Emissions Prediction Techniques for Advanced Combustion Systems
Researchers at NUI Galway, in collaboration with international industrial partners, are developing
advanced numerical techniques to accurately simulate combustion phenomena in next generation
gas turbine engines. One of the major challenges in the gas turbine industry is to ensure clean,
efficient, reliable and safe operation for a wide range of fuels, such as those derived from liquefied
natural gas (LNG), unconventional hydrocarbons, and renewables such as landfill gas and syngas.
In order to reach these goals while reducing time-to-market, major gas turbine manufacturers are in
the early stages of applying computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques to combustor design
processes. CFD has long been used in the design of other gas turbine components such as diffusers,
compressors and turbines, but the computational expense required to accurately capture complex
fluid dynamics, mixing, radiative heat transfer and chemical reactions for an increasingly wide range
of fuels requires new ways of thinking.
The proposed research will further develop techniques currently under investigation at NUI Galway
and industrial partners to enable accurate prediction of emissions performance for industrial
combustor designs, thus reducing the need for expensive experimental campaigns.
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
Unique selling points of PhD project in NUI Galway:
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Work with the Combustion Chemistry Centre, one of the world’s leading combustion research groups
Work as part of the Ryan Institute for environment, marine & energy research, one of the largest
interdisciplinary groups in this field in Europe
Very strong and active research links to industry in this technology area, e.g. Rolls-Royce, Alstom
Power, and to academia, e.g. Politecnico di Milano, MIT
Work will be performed in NUI Galway’s Engineering Building, the largest engineering education
facility in Ireland
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Mechanical Engineering, Energy Systems Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits- choose only
one (tick box):
Engineering and other technological areas
Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)/Physical Sciences (Mathematics,
Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geosciences)
Health and Biomedical Sciences / Clinical, Pré-clinical and Health Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Computing
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Sustainable Agricultural Production
Oil, Gas and Coal
X
Renewable Energy
Minerals, Minerals Technology
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technologies for Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Disasters
Bioprospecting and Biodiversity
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
New technologies in constructive engineering
Please indicate which of the following applies to this project (referring to Science Without Borders
arrangements):
Suitable only as a Full PhD (Y/N): Y
Available to candidates seeking a Sandwich PhD arrangement (Y/N): N
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Universidade Nacional da Irlanda em Galway -- Ciência sem Fronteiras
Suitable for either/Don’t know: N