BIOGRAPHICAL DATA of Fokion N. Egolfopoulos

Fokion N. Egolfopoulos received a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in February 1981 and a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University in December 1984; from March 1981 to May 1983 he served military service (compulsory) in the Greek Navy.  Subsequently, he received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California at Davis in June 1990, after having spent the last two years of his doctoral research at Princeton University.  After his formal education he has been associated with the Combustion and Fuels Laboratory at Princeton University as a Research Associate from June 1990 to August 1991.  In August 1991 he joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California at the rank of Assistant Professor.  In April 1997 he was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and subsequently in June of 2002 to the rank of Full Professor.  From January 1998 until November of 2001 he was also appointed as Visiting Associate and Lecturer of the Department of Aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology.

 

Professor Egolfopoulos' current research interests include: combustion and propulsion, microgravity combustion, alternative and renewable fuels, pollutant formation and destruction, and hypersonic combustion.  His work is supported by NASA, National Science Foundation, Air-Force Office of Scientific Research, TRW, PSA Peugeot-Citršen,  the Southern California Gas Company, the California Institute for Energy Efficiency, and the California Energy Commission.  He has authored and co-authored forty six (46) journal publications, two (2) book chapters, sixty four (64) conference proceedings and reports, and has given seventy six (76) scholarly presentations.

 

He was a recipient of the Silver Medal of the Combustion Institute at the Twenty-Second International Combustion Symposium.  During his first year at USC he was named a Zumberge Fellow by receiving a James H. Zumberge Research Innovation Fund (ZRIF), and received a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Initiation Grant.  In April of 1994, he was awarded the Faculty of the Month University-Wide Award by the Mortar Board Senior Honor Society, in recognition of dedication to teaching and to students as well as academic accomplishments.  In March of 1995, he was appointed to the Fred O'Green Assistant Professorship in Engineering.  In April of 1996, he was awarded the Junior Faculty Research Award in Engineering, for his innovative research work in the area of combustion and the development of a combustion laboratory.  In 1997 and 1998, he was awarded an Outstanding Teaching Awards in Engineering.

 

Publications

1.         "Experimental and Numerical Determination of Laminar Flame Speeds of Methane/(Ar, N2, CO2)-Air Mixtures as Function of Stoichiometry, Pressure, and Flame Temperature," by D.L. Zhu, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and C.K. Law, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 22: 1537-1545 (1988).

 

2.         "Laminar Flame Speeds of Methane/Air Mixtures Under Reduced and Elevated Pressures," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, P. Cho, and C.K. Law, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 76, pp. 375-391, 1989.

 

3.         "Chain Mechanisms in the Overall Reaction Orders in Laminar Flame Propagation," by F.N. Egolfopoulos and C.K. Law, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 80, pp. 7-16, 1990.

 

4.         "An Experimental and Computational Study of the Burning Rates of Ultra-Lean to Moderately-Rich H2/O2/N2 Laminar Flames with Pressure Variations," by F.N. Egolfopoulos and C.K. Law, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 23: 333-340 (1990).

 

5.         "A Kinetic Criterion of Flammability Limits: The C-H-O-Inert System," by C.K. Law and F.N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 23: 413-421 (1990).

 

6.         "Experimental and Numerical Determination of Laminar Flame Speeds: Mixtures of C2-Hydrocarbons with Oxygen and Nitrogen," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, D.L. Zhu, and C.K. Law, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 23: 471-478 (1990).

 

7.         "A Comprehensive Study on Methanol Kinetics in Freely-Propagating and Burner-Stabilized Flames, Flow and Static Reactors, and Shock Tubes," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, D.X. Du, and C.K. Law, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 83, pp. 33-75, 1992.

 

8.         "A Unified Chain-Thermal Theory of Fundamental Flammability Limits," by C.K. Law and F.N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 24: 137-144 (1992).

 

9.         "A Study on Ethanol Oxidation Kinetics in Laminar Premixed Flames, Flow Reactors, and Shock Tubes," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, D.X. Du, and C.K. Law, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 24: 833-841 (1992).

 

10.       "A Theoretical Study of Sonoluminescense," by V. Kamath, A. Prosperetti, and F.N. Egolfopoulos, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 94 (1), pp. 248-260, 1993.

 

11.       "Laminar Flame Speeds and Extinction Strain Rates of Mixtures of Carbon Monoxide with Hydrogen, Methane, and Air," by C.M. Vagelopoulos and F.N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 25: 1317-1323 (1994).

 

12.       "Further Considerations on the Determination of Laminar Flame Speeds With the Counterflow Twin Flame Technique," by C.M. Vagelopoulos, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and C.K. Law, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 25: 1341-1347 (1994).

 

13.       "Dynamics and Structure of Unsteady, Strained, Laminar, Premixed Flames," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 25: 1365-1373 (1994).

 

14.       "Geometric and Radiation Effects on Steady and Unsteady Strained Laminar Flames," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 25: 1375-1381 (1994).

 

15.       "COChemiluminescence in Premixed Flames," by J.-M. Samaniego, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and C.T. Bowman, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 109, pp. 183-203, 1995.

 

16.       "Unsteady, Counterflowing, Strained Diffusion Flames: Frequency Response and Scaling," by F.N. Egolfopoulos and C.S. Campbell, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 318, pp. 1-29, 1996.

 

17.       "On Strained Flames with Hypergolic Reactants: The H2/NO/F2 System in High-Speed, Supersonic and Subsonic, Turbulent Shear-Layer Combustion," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, P.E. Dimotakis, and C. Bond, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 26: 2885-2893 (1996).

 

18.       "Wall Effects on the Propagation and Extinction of Strained, Laminar, Premixed Flames," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, H. Zhang, and Z. Zhang, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 109, pp. 237-252, 1997.

 

19.       "Structure and Propagation of Premixed Flames in Nozzle-Generated Counterflow," by B.H. Chao, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and C.K. Law, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 109, pp. 620-638, 1997.

 

20.       "Direct Experimental Determination of Laminar Flame Speeds," by C.M. Vagelopoulos and F.N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 27: 513-519 (1998).

 

21.       "Non-Premixed Hydrocarbon Ignition at High Strain Rates," by F.N. Egolfopoulos and P.E. Dimotakis, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 27: 641-648 (1998).

 

22.       "Mechanisms of Nitric Oxide Formation in Oxygen-Natural Gas Combustion," by J.-M. Samaniego, B. LabŽgorre, F.N. Egolfopoulos, M. Ditaranto, J.-C. Sautet, and O. Charon, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 27: 1385-1392 (1998).

 

23.       "Dynamics and Structure of Dusty Reacting Flows: Inert Particles in Strained, Laminar, Premixed Flames," by F.N. Egolfopoulos and C.S. Campbell, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 117, pp. 206-226, 1999.

 

24.       "Direct Numerical Simulation of Heat Release and NOx Formation in Turbulent Non-Premixed Flames," by B. BŽdat, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and T. Poinsot, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 119, pp. 69-83, 1999.

 

25.       "Effects of Additives on the Non-premixed Ignition of Ethylene in Air," by F.N. Egolfopoulos and P.E. Dimotakis, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 156, pp. 173-199, 2000.

 

26.       "An Unsteady Flamelet Model for Non-Premixed Combustion," by B. Cuenot, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and T. Poinsot, Combustion Theory and Modeling, 4: (1) 77-97, 2000.

 

27.       "Validation of Nitrogen Kinetics in High Pressure Flames," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, Energy Conversion & Management, Vol. 142, pp. 21-34, 2000.

 

28.       "Structure and Extinction of Unsteady, Counterflowing, Strained Diffusion Flames," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, International Journal of Energy Research, Vol. 24, pp. 989-1010, 2000.

29.           "Solid Fuel Burning in Steady, Strained, Premixed Flow Fields: The Graphite/Air/Methane System," by F.N. Egolfopoulos, International Journal of Energy Research, Vol. 24, pp. 1257-1276, 2000.

 

30.           "Oxygen Composition Modulation Effects on Flame Propagation and NOx Formation in Methane-Air Premixed Flames," by W. Qin, J.-Y. Ren, F.N. Egolfopoulos, S. Wu, H. Zhang, and T.T. Tsotsis, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 28: 1825-1831 (2000).

 

31.           "Unsteady Response of Propane Laminar Premixed Flames Submitted to Mixture Composition Oscillations," by R. Lauvergne and F.N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 28: 1841-1850 (2000).

 

32.           "Extinction of Near-Limit Premixed Flames in Microgravity," by H. Zhang and F.N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 28: 1875-1882 (2000).

 

33.           "Effects of Inert Dust Clouds on the Extinction of Strained, Laminar Flames at Normal- and Micro-Gravity," by M.G. Andac, F.N. Egolfopoulos, C.S. Campbell, and R. Lauvergne, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 28: 2921-2929 (2000).

 

34.           "Strain-Rate Effects on Hydrogen-Enhanced Lean Premixed Combustion," by J.-Y. Ren, W. Qin, F. N. Egolfopoulos, and T. T. Tsotsis, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 124, pp. 717-720, 2001.

 

35.           "Methane Reforming and its Potential Effect on the Efficiency and Pollutant Emissions of Lean Methane-Air Combustion," by J.-Y. Ren, W. Qin, F.N. Egolfopoulos, H. Mak, and T.T. Tsotsis, Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 56/4, pp. 1541-1549, 2001.

 

36.           "Fundamental and Environmental Aspects of Landfill Gas Utilization for Power Generation," by W. Qin, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and T.T. Tsotsis, Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol. 82, pp. 157-172, 2001.

 

37.           "A Comparative Study of Ethylene Kinetics in Premixed and Non-Premixed Flames," by F.N. Egolfopoulos and P.E. Dimotakis, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 162, pp. 19-36, 2001.

 

38.           "Reactive Membrane Separations for Power Generation Applications: Pollutant Emission Aspects," by J.-Y. Ren, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and T.T. Tsotsis, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 40(23); 5155-5161, 2001.

 

39.           "Premixed Flame Extinction by Inert Particles in Normal- and Micro-Gravity," by M.G. Andac, F. N. Egolfopoulos, and C.S. Campbell, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 129, pp. 179-191, 2002.

 

40.           "NOx Emission Control of Lean Methane-Air Combustion With Addition of Methane Reforming Mixtures," by J.-Y. Ren, T.T. Tsotsis, and F.N. Egolfopoulos, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 174 (4), pp. 181-205, 2002.

 

41.           "Measurement of Laminar Flame Speeds through Digital Particle Image Velocimetry: Mixtures of Methane and Ethane with Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Helium," by Y. Dong, C. M. Vagelopoulos, G. Spedding, and F. N. Egolfopoulos, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 29: in press (2002).

 

42.           " Effects of Combustible Dust Clouds on the Extinction Behavior of Strained, Laminar, Premixed Flames in Normal-Gravity," by M.G. Andac, F. N. Egolfopoulos, and C.S. Campbell, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 29: in press (2002).

 

43.           "Hot Particle Ignition of Methane Flames," by F. N. Egolfopoulos, C.S. Campbell, and M.G. Andac, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute 29: in press (2002).

 

44.           "Basic Aspects of Combustion Stability and Pollutant Emissions of a CO2 Decomposition-Based Power Generation Cycle," by J.-Y. Ren, T.T. Tsotsis, and F.N. Egolfopoulos, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, in press (2002).

 

45.           "Reactive Separations for Power Generation Applications: Oxygen-Lancing, " by J.-Y. Ren, F.N. Egolfopoulos, and T.T. Tsotsis, submitted to Chemical Engineering Science.

 

46.           "Soret Diffusion Effects on Flame-Wall Interactions," by F. N. Egolfopoulos, in preparation.

 

Current Research Projects

1.   Agency:           Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)

      Title:               Non-Equilibrium Pulsed Plasma Ignitor

      Period:             July 1 2002 Đ November 1 2002

 

2.   Agency:           Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)

      Title:               Advanced Digital Image Acquisition and Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer System for Combustion Research

      Period:             April 2002 Đ March 2003

 

3.   Agency:           PSA Peugeot-Citršen, France

      Title:               Fundamental Studies on the Auto-ignition of Practical Fuels

      Period:             July 2002- June 2003

 

4.   Agency:           Southern California Gas Company

      Title:               An Experimental Study on the Emissions Efficiency Performance

                              of a new Generation Stirling Engine

      Period:             January 2002- June 2003

 

5.   Agency:           Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)

      Title:               Experimental and Detailed Numerical Studies of Fundamental Flame

                              Properties of Gaseous and Liquid Fuels

      Period:             December 2001 - November 2003

 

6.   Agency:           California Energy Commission

      Title:               OTM Aided Oxygen Enhanced Combustion

      Period:             August 2001 - January 2003

 

7.   Agency:           National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),

      Title:               Detailed Studies on the Structure and Dynamics of Reacting Dusty

                              Flows at Normal- and Micro-Gravity

      Period:             November 2000 - October 2004

 

8.   Agency:           California Energy Commission

      Title:               The Use of Solid Oxide Membranes in Power Generation Applications

      Period:             August 2000 - January 2002

 

9.   Agency:           Southern California Gas Company

      Title:               Novel Concepts for Ultra Low Emission and High Efficiency

                              Natural Gas Combustion

      Period:             June 2002 Đ December 2003

 

10. Agency:           National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),

      Title:               Quantitative Studies on the Propagation and Extinction of

                              Near-Limit Flames Under Normal- and Micro-gravity

      Period:             December 1998 - November 2002

 

 

Specific Research Interests

1.     Aerodynamic and Kinetic Processes in Flames

2.     High-speed air-breathing propulsion

3.     Microgravity Combustion

4.     Mechanisms of Combustion-Generated Oxides of Nitrogen

5.     Heterogeneous Reacting Flows

6.     Conventional and Alternative Fuels

7.     Detailed Modeling of Reacting Flows

8.     Laser-Based Experimental Techniques

 

Teaching

University of Southern California,

Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering:

ME 310           Engineering Thermodynamics (undergraduate level)

ME 430           Thermal Systems Design (undergraduate level)

ME 436           Energy and Propulsion (undergraduate level)

ME 512a         Advanced Thermodynamics (graduate level)

ME 513           Principles of Combustion (graduate level)

ME 526           Engineering Analytical Methods (graduate level)

 

 

California Institute of Technology,

Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories (GALCIT):

AE 120 b,c      Combustion Fundamentals (graduate level)

 

 

Recent and Current Graduate Students

Doctor of Philosophy:

1.      Hai Zhang, "Heat Losses Effects on the Structure and Dynamics of Strained Laminar Flames," Ph.D. Thesis, University of Southern California.  Graduated in May of 1999.

 

2.      Christina M. Vagelopoulos, "An Experimental and Numerical Study on the Stability and Propagation of Laminar Premixed Flames," Ph.D. Thesis, University of Southern California.  Graduated in May of 1999.

 

3.      Wenjun Qin, "Detailed Studies on the Combustion of Landfill Gases," Ph.D. Thesis, University of Southern California.  Graduated in May of 2000.

 

4.      Jyh-Yih Ren, "On the Structure and Dynamics of Lean-Burning of Natural Gas," Ph.D. Thesis, University of Southern California.  Graduated in December of 2001.

 

5.      Gurhan Mustafa Andac, "Detailed Studies on Dusty Reacting Flow in Normal- and Micro-gravity," Ph.D. Thesis, University of Southern California.  Graduated in December of 2001.

 

 

Masters of Science:

1.      Aditya Dasurkar, University of Southern California.  Graduated in August of 2000.