Cleaner Combustion for a Healthier Tomorrow
Our research lab is committed to revolutionizing energy systems by advancing sustainable technologies, optimizing combustion efficiency, and addressing critical environmental challenges. Our research spans from fundamental combustion observations and applications to real-world impacts like creating better alternatives to traditional fuels, developing more advanced and efficient combustion strategies, reducing exhaust pollution, and helping people track and minimize their exposure to pollutants like wildfire smoke.
Our research has implications for reducing pollution, improving air quality, and creating energy systems that are safer for both people and the planet. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and forward-thinking science, our lab drives innovations that will power a sustainable, cleaner future for homes, industries, and communities.
Optical Diagnostics of Combusting Systems
This project focuses on the development and application of optical diagnostic techniques to better understand combustion processes. Techniques such as tunable laser diode absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), chemiluminescence-based spectroscopy, laser extinction methods, and soot pyrometry allow the visualization and measurement of critical parameters such as temperature, species concentration, and flow dynamics. Such high-fidelity diagnostics techniques provide non-intrusive ways to probe complex combustion environments, offering valuable insights into flame structure, pollutant formation, and ignition/extinction phenomena. This research aids in the development of cleaner and more efficient combustion systems by revealing details that would be otherwise inaccessible in these harsh, high-temperature environments.
Hydrogen Enhancement of Natural Gas Engines
This research explores the use of hydrogen as an additive to natural gas in internal combustion engines to improve performance and reduce emissions. Hydrogen, a high-reactivity, clean-burning fuel, can enhance the combustion characteristics of natural gas by improving flame speed and reducing the emission of pollutants like NOx, carbon monoxide, and unburned hydrocarbons. The project aims to identify optimal hydrogen/natural gas blending ratios, investigate combustion stability, and assess the impact of hydrogen enrichment on engine efficiency, durability, and emissions. The goal is to make natural gas engines cleaner and more adaptable to future fuel technologies, especially in the context of renewable hydrogen production and integration into our existing energy grid.
Biochar Generation and Utilization
Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) pose a significant health risk to rural, small, and disadvantaged communities, as seen in elevated PFAS levels in wells and residents' blood in areas like Spokane County, WA. While granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorbers are widely used in point-of-use (POU) filters to reduce PFAS exposure, they have environmental and economic drawbacks, including reliance on coal, high costs, and the need for frequent replacement. Biochar, a more sustainable alternative, sequesters carbon and is cheaper than GAC, potentially increasing access to PFAS treatment in underserved communities. However, biochar currently has lower PFAS removal efficiency, limiting its appeal. This project aims to develop biochar adsorbents with PFAS removal capabilities that rival or exceed GAC, using a custom laboratory TLUD to optimize biochar production for POU filters. By fine-tuning production parameters and conducting bench-scale adsorption tests, the project seeks to create a sustainable, effective solution for one of the most pressing drinking water crises in the US.
Community (Wildfire) Smoke Readiness
This research project is part of $1.1 million EPA grant awarded to the GU Climate Institute in partnership with the City of Spokane, the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency and the University of Washington. The project is designed to help reduce indoor exposure to pollutants in wildfire smoke in the City of Spokane and community centers serving disadvantaged populations. The money will go toward health awareness outreach, air-quality monitoring, HVAC upgrades and a public-engaged process of developing smoke readiness plans for buildings and communities. Our part in this larger project is to oversee the installation of air-quality sensors, data analysis of the various HVAC upgrades and the development of on-site “dashboards” displaying real-time air quality and temperature data.
Recent Publications
Shimabuku, K.K.; Baumgardner, M.E.; Bahr, R.B., Frojelin, N.R., Kennedy, A.M.; Nolan, K.T., Stanton, N.E. (2023) Fluoride removal in batch and column systems using bonechar produced in a top-lit updraft drum gasifier and furnace, Water Research 244, Article No. 120332.
Kutkut, A.; Ayoobi, M.; Baumgardner, M.E.; Akkerman, V. (2023) Investigating the Ignition and Stability Limits of Premixed Methane/Air Combustion in Micro-Channels, Energies 16 (18), Article No. 6752.7
Baumgardner, M.E.; Graves, A. (2022) Temperature, soot, and OH*/CH* chemiluminescence measurements of partially-premixed CO2-diluted propane flames on a linear Hencken burner, Fuel 328, Article No. 125178.
Baumgardner, M.E.; Harvey, J. (2020) Analyzing OH*, CH*, and C2* chemiluminescence of bifurcating FREI propane-air flames in a micro flow reactor, Combustion and Flame 221, pp. 349-351.