Reacting flows is a research area focused on fluid flows in which chemical reactions significantly modify the composition, thermodynamic state, and transport properties of the medium. It integrates fluid mechanics, chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, and heat and mass transfer to model and analyze phenomena such as combustion, heterogeneous catalysis, and chemically reacting boundary layers. Research emphasizes coupling between flow fields and reaction rates, turbulence–chemistry interaction, multiscale transport, and the formation of intermediate and product species. Methods include detailed and reduced kinetic modeling, direct numerical simulation, large-eddy simulation, and experimental diagnostics to understand stability, ignition, extinction, and emissions in reactive systems.
Engineers love a good practical challenge, especially when it comes to spaceflight. But there's one particular challenge facing the crewed missions of the near future that scares mission planners above almost all others—fire. ...
Space Exploration
13 hours ago
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Researchers from Skoltech have published a paper in the journal Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena presenting an analysis of steady propagating combustion waves—from slow flames to supersonic detonation waves. The study relies ...
General Physics
Feb 26, 2026
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Researchers in Belgium have unveiled a striking chemical reaction in which ripples along a frozen reaction front resemble the rays of a shining star. Publishing their results in Physical Review Letters, Anne De Wit and colleagues ...
Engineers have long battled a problem that can cause loud, damaging oscillations inside gas turbines and aircraft engines: combustion instability. These unwanted pressure fluctuations create vibrations so intense that they ...
General Physics
Jan 31, 2026
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Using a chemical reaction inspired by rocket fuel ignition, Cornell researchers have engineered a nanoporous carbon with the highest surface area ever reported, a breakthrough that is already proving beneficial for carbon-dioxide ...
Nanomaterials
Dec 18, 2024
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Candle flames and airplane engines produce tiny soot particles from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as their precursors, both of which are harmful to humans and the environment. These carbon-based particles are also ...
Optics & Photonics
Sep 3, 2024
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In a study published on January 18, 2024 in the journal Physics of Fluids, researchers from Tohoku University theoretically linked ignition and deflagration in a combustion system, unlocking new configurations for stable, ...
General Physics
Mar 14, 2024
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212
Recently, a research group led by Prof. Gao Xiaoming and Prof. Liu Kun from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), developed a concentration-independent pressure sensing method based ...
Condensed Matter
Mar 7, 2024
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