Civil Engineering Association

Analysis and abatement of air pollution involve a variety of technical disciplines. Formation of the most prevalent pollutants occurs during the combustion process, a tightly coupled system involving fluid flow, mass and energy transport, and chemical kinetics. Its complexity is exemplified by the fact that, in many respects, the simplest hydrocarbon combustion, the methane-oxygen flame, has been quantitatively modeled only within the last several years. Nonetheless, the development of combustion modifications aimed at minimizing the formation of the unwanted by-products of burning fuels requires an understanding of the combustion process. Fuel may be available in solid, liquid, or gaseous form; it may be mixed with the air ahead of time or only within the combustion chamber; the chamber itself may vary from the piston and cylinder arrangement in an automobile engine to a lO-story-high boiler in the largest power plant; the unwanted byproducts may remain as gases, or they may, upon cooling, form small particles.