The Combustion Physics Group of the Institute of Physics would like to invite our readers to their annual autumn meeting…

Institute of Physics Autumn Group Meeting
‘COMBUSTION GENERATED NOISE’
September 27, 2004

Institute of Physics
Franklin Room
76 Portland Rd
London W1B 1NT

Issues and studies concerning combustion noise can be traced back to the earliest research studies and applications of combustion itself.

Lord Rayleigh’s fundamental research was undertaken during the same era as the development of the earliest, ‘noisy’ automotive engines, whilst development of the petrochemical industry introduced the potential for accidental explosion ‘noise’. Londoners during the second world war will never forget the noise %u2013 or more precisely, noise cessation – associated with V1 ‘Buzz Bombs’, whilst a more esoteric demonstration is provided by Shell’s ‘singing flame’ from the 1970s. Development of automotive engines today are still hindered by irregular combustion and associated noise, which precludes operation in regimes where ultra low emissions may be achieved. There are many generically similar types of problems encountered in the process industries also.

Probably the area generating most contemporary interest and research effort is combustion noise and instabilities associated with the operation of future generations of gas turbine engines. Ever increasing demands of improved efficiency with lower environmental impact have given rise to proposed operating strategies such as Lean Premixed Pre-vaporised (LPP) and Lean Premixed (LP) combustors, both of which are prone to combustion instabilities and noise.

Many of these problems and applications are better understood and, where appropriate, mitigated today. Increased knowledge has generated improved predictive capability, improved diagnostics and a variety of control methodologies.

The aim of this one-day series of talks is to reflect current research and understanding across this broad range of sources of combustion noise and instability. Presentations will be delivered by major industrial players in the field including PowerGen, QinetiQ, Siemens, Ricardo and the petrochemical sector, supported by a range of active academic research groups. A full programme will be circulated shortly.

Please could you indicate your interest in attending this one-day group meeting held at Institute of Physics by return of this email. Could you also return details colleagues accompanying you, and forward this email to colleagues who may be interested in attending. If you would like to offer a presentation for the day, please email Dr Bowen, email Bowenpj@cardiff.ac.uk by 10 September 2004 and we will try to accommodate you within the programme.

To obtain further updated information please go to the following web page:

http://conferences.iop.org/COM/

Registration details will be available shortly