PAUL DAVID RONNEY

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Combustion, micro-scale power generation and propulsion, biophysics and biofilms, turbulence, internal combustion engines and control systems, low-gravity phenomena, radiative transfer.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2/96 - 12/97:  Payload Specialist Astronaut (Alternate) - trained for Spacelab mission MSL-1, (launched as STS-83 4/4/97 - 4/8/97, re-flew as STS-94 on 7/1/97 - 7/16/97) to conduct combustion, fluids, and materials science experiments.  Served as crew communicator for experiment operations during both missions.

6/00 - present:  Professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

9/94 - 5/00:  Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

9/93 - 8/94:  Research Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

8/86 - 8/93:  Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.

11/85 - 4/86:  Research Associate, Chemistry Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 

9/83 - 10/85:  National Research Council Resident Research Associate, NASA Lewis (Glenn) Research Center, Cleveland, OH.

8/78 - 9/79:  Systems Integration Engineer, Ford Aerospace & Communications Corp., Newport Beach, CA.

 

HONORS , AWARDS,  PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

First-ever recipient of the Bernard Lewis Lectureship of the Combustion Institute, 2005.

Principal Investigator for Structure Of Flame Balls At Low Lewis-number (SOFBALL) space flight experiment on STS-83 (April 4-8, 1997), STS-94 (July 1-16, 1997) and STS-107 (January 16 – February 1, 2003) Space Shuttle missions.

Fellow, Institute of Physics

Member of editorial boards, Combustion and Flame, Combustion Theory and Modelling, Microgravity Science and Technology, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science

Co-chair, colloquium on New Concepts in Combustion Technology, 29th and 30th International Symposium on Combustion, 2002 and 2004.

Member of NASA Office of Biological and Physical Research Scientific Advisory Council; Chair, Physical Sciences Subcommittee

Best poster award (out of 90), Dynamics Days Europe 2003, Palma de Majorca, Spain, Sept. 24-27, 2003

Institution of Mechanical Engineers (U.K.) Starley Premium Award, 1994 (for the best paper published in the Journal of Automobile Engineering, 1994).

Princeton Engineer's Council Excellence in Teaching Award, 1990.

National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator, 1987 - 1992

 

EDUCATION

 

9/79 - 3/83  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Sc.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, March 1983; DuPont Fellowship, Upham Fellowship

9/78 - 6/79  California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

M.S. in Aeronautics, June 1979; Guggenheim Fellowship

9/77 - 6/78  University of California, Berkeley, CA

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, June 1978; Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma, Phi Beta Kappa, Dean's List

9/74 - 6/77  University of California, Irvine, CA, Mechanical Engineering major


PUBLICATIONS

Book Chapters (3)

Ronney, P. D.,  Combustion Phenomena at Microgravity, Chapter 12 in: Physics of Fluids in Microgravity (R. Monti, Ed.), Gordon and Breach, Reading, U.K., 2002, pp. 371-431.

Ronney, P. D., Premixed-Gas Flames, in: Microgravity Combustion: Fires in Free Fall (H. Ross, Ed.), Academic Press, London, U.K., 2001, pp. 35-82.

Ronney, P. D., "Some Open Issues in Premixed Turbulent Combustion," in: Modeling in Combustion Science (J. D. Buckmaster and T. Takeno, Eds.), Lecture Notes In Physics, Vol. 449, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1995, pp. 3-22.

Refereed Journal Publications (64)

Kuo, C.-H., Ronney, P. D., Numerical Modeling of Heat Recirculating Combustors, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 31, pp. 3277-3284 (2007).

Son, Y., Zouein, G., Ronney, P. D., Gokoglu, S. Comparison of Carbon Dioxide and Helium as Fire Extinguishing Agents for Spacecraft Journal of ASTM International, Vol. 3, No. 3, (2006).

Cha, M. S., Ronney, P. D., Propagation rates of non-premixed edge-flames, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 146, pp. 312 - 328 (2006).

Shao, Z, Haile, S., Ahn, J., Ronney, P. D., Zhan, Z., Barnett, S. A., A thermally self-sustained micro Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell with high power density, Nature, Vol. 435, pp. 795 - 798 (2005).

Wang, F., Liu, J. B., Sinibaldi, J., Brophy, C., Kuthi, A., Jiang, C., Ronney, P. D., Gundersen, M. A., Transient Plasma Ignition of Quiescent and Flowing Fuel Mixtures, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 33, pp. 844 – 849 (2005).

Liu, J. B., Wang, F., Li, G., Kuthi, A., Gutmark, E. J., Ronney, P. D., Gundersen, M. A., Transient plasma ignition, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 33, pp. 326-327 (2005).

Ahn, J., Eastwood, C., Sitzki, L., Ronney, P. D., Gas-phase and catalytic combustion in heat-recirculating burners, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 30, pp. 2463-2472 (2005).

Ronney, P. D., "Analysis of non-adiabatic heat-recirculating combustors," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 135, pp. 421-439 (2003).  (As of 10/20/2006, this is the 2nd most cited research paper (out of 1615) in any Combustion journal published on or after this papers publication date.)

Maruta, K., Takeda, K., Ahn, J., Borer, K., Sitzki, L, Ronney, P. D., Deutschman, O., "Extinction Limits of Catalytic Combustion in Microchannels," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 29, pp. 957-963 (2002).

Son, Y., Ronney, P. D., "Radiation-Driven Flame Spread Over Thermally-Thick Fuels in Quiescent Microgravity Environments," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 29, pp. 2587-2594 (2002).

Weinberg, F. J., Rowe, D. M., Min, G., Ronney, P. D., "On thermoelectric power conversion from heat re-circulating combustion systems," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 29, pp. 941-947 (2002).

Kagan, L., Sivashinsky, G. I., Ronney, P. D., "Activation Energy Effect on Flame Propagation in Large-Scale Vortical Flows," Combustion Theory and Modelling, Vol 6, pp. 479-485 (2002).

Ji, C., Ronney, P. D., Modeling of Engine Cyclic Variation by a Thermodynamic Model in: Spark Ignition and Compression Ignition Engine Modeling (SP-1720), Society of Automotive Engineers, 2002.  Also SAE Paper 2002-01-2736 (2002).

Honda, L. K. and Ronney, P. D., Mechanisms of concurrent-flow flame spread over solid fuel beds, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, Vol. 28, pp. 2793-2801 (2000).

Nayagam, V., Balasubramaniam, R., and Ronney, P. D., Diffusion Flame-Holes, Combustion Theory and Modelling, Vol. 3, pp. 727-742 (1999).

Liu, J.-B. and Ronney, P. D., Premixed Edge-Flames in Spatially Varying Straining Flows, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 144, pp. 21-46 (1999).

Ronney, P. D., Flame Structure Modification and Quenching By Turbulence, Combustion Science and Technology (Japanese edition), Vol. 6 (Supplement), pp. 53-76 (1999).

Wu, M. S., Ronney, P. D., Colantonio, R. and VanZandt, D., "Detailed Numerical Simulation of Flame Ball Structure and Dynamics," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 116, pp. 387-397 (1999).

Abid, M., Wu, M. S., Liu, J. B., Ronney, P. D., Ueki, M., K. Maruta, K., Kobayashi, H., Niioka, T. and VanZandt, D. M., "Experimental and Numerical Study of Flame Ball IR and UV Emissions," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 116, pp. 348-359 (1999).

Vedarajan, T. G., Buckmaster, J. D. and Ronney, P. D., Two-dimensional Failure Waves and Ignition Fronts in Premixed Combustion, Twenty-Seventh International Symposium on Combustion, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1998, pp. 537-544.

Wu, M.-S., Liu, J. B. and Ronney, P. D., Numerical Simulation of Diluent Effects on Flame Ball Structure and Dynamics, Twenty-Seventh International Symposium on Combustion, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1998, pp. 2543-2550.

Ju, Y., Masuya, G. and Ronney, P. D., Effects of Radiative Emission and Absorption on the Propagation and Extinction of Premixed Gas Flames Twenty-Seventh International Symposium on Combustion, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1998, pp. 2619-2626.

Buckmaster, J. D. and Ronney, P. D., Flame Ball Drift in the Presence of a Total Diffusive Heat Flux, Twenty-Seventh International Symposium on Combustion, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1998, pp. 2603-2610.

Ronney, P. D., Understanding Combustion Processes Through Microgravity Research, Twenty-Seventh International Symposium on Combustion, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1998, pp. 2485-2506 (invited paper).

Ronney, P. D., Wu, M. S., Pearlman, H. G. and Weiland, K. J.,  Experimental Study of Flame Balls in Space: Preliminary Results from STS-83, AIAA Journal, Vol. 36, pp. 1361-1368 (1998).

Ronney, P. D., Premixed Laminar and Turbulent Flames at Microgravity, Space Forum, Vol. 4, pp. 49-98 (1998).

Aldredge, R. C., Vaezi, V. and Ronney, P. D., Premixed-Gas Flame Propagation in Turbulent Taylor-Couette Flow, Combustion and Flame, Vol. 115, pp. 395-405 (1998).

Honda, L. K. and Ronney, P. D., "Effects of Ambient Atmosphere on Flame Spread at Microgravity, Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 133, pp. 267-291 (1998).

Shay, M. L. and Ronney, P. D., "Nonpremixed Flames in Spatially-Varying Straining Flows," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 112, pp. 171-180 (1998).

Liu, J. B., Ronney, P. D., "Modified Fourier Transform Method for Interferogram Fringe Pattern Analysis," Applied Optics, Vol. 36, pp. 6231 - 6241 (1997).

Kim, J. S., Williams, F. A., Ronney, P. D., "Diffusional-Thermal Instability of Diffusion Flames," Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 327, pp. 273-302 (1996).

Lim, E. H., McIlroy, A., Ronney, P. D., Syage, J. A., "Detailed Characterization of Minimum Ignition Energies of Combustible Gases Using Laser Ignition Sources," in: Transport Phenomena in Combustion (S. H. Chan, Ed.), Taylor and Francis, 1996, pp. 176-184.

Shy, S. S., Jang, R. H., Ronney, P. D.,  "Laboratory Simulation of Flamelet and Distributed Models for Premixed Turbulent Combustion Using Aqueous Autocatalytic Reactions", Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 113-114, pp. 329 - 340 (1996).

Haslam, B. D., Ronney, P. D., "Fractal Properties of Propagating Fronts in a Strongly Stirred Fluid," Physics of Fluids, Vol. 7, pp. 1931-1937 (1995).

Ronney, P. D., Haslam, B. D., Rhys, N. O., "Front Propagation Rates in Randomly Stirred Media," Physical Review Letters, Vol. 74, pp. 3804-3807 (1995).

Lempert, W. R., Magee, K., Ronney, P. D., Gee, K. R., Haugland, R. P., "Flow Tagging Velocimetry In Incompressible Flow Using PHoto-Activated Nonintrusive Tracking Of Molecular Motion (PHANTOMM)," Experiments in Fluids, Vol. 18, pp. 249-257 (1995).

Ronney, P. D., Greenberg, J. B., Zhang, Y., Roegner, E. V., "Flame Spread Over Thin Solid Fuels in Partially Premixed Atmospheres," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 100, pp. 474-484 (1995).

Zhu, J. Y., Ronney, P. D., "Simulation of Front Propagation at Large Non-dimensional Flow Disturbance Intensities," Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 100, pp. 183-201 (1994).

Pearlman, H. G., Ronney, P. D., "Near-Limit Behavior of High Lewis-Number Premixed Flames in Tubes at Normal and Low Gravity," Physics of Fluids, Vol. 6, pp. 4009-4018 (1994).

Pearlman, H. G., Ronney, P. D., "Self-Organized Spiral and Circular Waves in Premixed Gas Flames," Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 101, pp. 2632-2633 (1994).

Lozinski, D., Buckmaster, J. D., Ronney, P. D., "Absolute Flammability Limits and Flame Balls in Optically Thick Mixtures," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 97, pp. 301-316 (1994).

Ronney, P. D., Whaling, K. N., Abbud-Madrid, A., Gatto, J. L., Pisowicz, V. L., "Stationary Premixed Flames in Spherical and Cylindrical Geometries," AIAA Journal, Vol. 32, pp. 569-577 (1994).

Ronney, P. D., "Laser versus Conventional Ignition of Flames," Optical Engineering, Vol. 33, pp. 510-521 (1994).

Ronney, P. D., Shoda, M., Waida, S. T., Durbin, E. J., "Throttleless Premixed-Charge Engines: Concept and Experiment," Journal of Automobile Engineering, (Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D), Vol. 208, pp. 13-24 (1994).  This paper received the 1994 Starley Premium Award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (U.K.), for the best paper published in the Journal of Automobile Engineering in 1994.

Abbud-Madrid, A., Ronney, P. D., "Premixed Flame Propagation in an Optically-Thick Gas," AIAA Journal,  Vol. 31, pp. 2179-2181 (1993).

Greenberg, J. B., Ronney, P. D., "Analysis of Lewis Number Effects in Flame Spread," International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 36, pp. 315-323 (1993).

Sloane, T. M., Ronney, P. D., "A Comparison of Ignition Phenomena Modelled with Detailed and Simplified Kinetics," Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 88, pp. 1-13 (1993).

Buckmaster, J. B., Gessman, R., Ronney, P. D., "The Three-Dimensional Dynamics of Flame Balls," Twenty-Fourth International Symposium on Combustion, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1992, pp. 53-59.

Chen, R. H., Mitchell, G. B., Ronney, P. D., "Diffusive-Thermal Instability and Flame Extinction in Non-Premixed Combustion," Twenty-Fourth International Symposium on Combustion, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1992, pp. 213-221.

Shy, S. S., Ronney, P. D., Buckley S. G., Yakhot, V., "Experimental Simulation of Premixed Turbulent Combustion Using Aqueous Autocatalytic Reactions," Twenty-Fourth International Symposium on Combustion, Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1992, pp. 543-551.

Ronney, P. D., Shoda, M., Waida, S. T., Westbrook, C. K., Pitz, W. J., "Knock Characteristics of Liquid and Gaseous Fuels in Lean Mixtures," Transactions of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Vol. 100, Part 4, pp. 557-568 (1992).  Also SAE Paper No. 912311, 1991.

Ronney, P. D., Yakhot, V., "Flame Broadening Effects on Premixed Turbulent Flame Speed," Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 86, pp. 31-43 (1992).

Zhang, Y., Ronney, P. D., Roegner, E., Greenberg, J. B., "Lewis Number Effects on Flame Spreading Over Thin Solid Fuels," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 90, pp. 71-83 (1992).

Buckmaster, J. D., Joulin, G., Ronney, P. D., "Structure and Stability of Non-adiabatic Flame Balls:  II. Effects of Far-Field Losses," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 84, pp. 411-422 (1991).

Abbud-Madrid, A., Ronney, P. D., "Effects of Radiative and Diffusive Transport Processes on Premixed Flames Near Flammability Limits," Twenty Third Symposium (International) on Combustion, Combustion Institute, 1990, pp. 423-431.

Farmer, J. N., Ronney, P. D., "A Numerical Study of Unsteady Nonadiabatic Flames," Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 73, pp. 555-574 (1990).

Ronney, P. D., "Near-Limit Flame Structures at Low Lewis Number," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 82, pp. 1-14 (1990).

Buckmaster, J. D., Joulin, G., Ronney, P. D., "Effects of Heat Loss on the Structure and Stability of Flame Balls," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 79, pp. 381-392 (1990).

Ronney, P.D., Sivashinsky, G.I., "A Theoretical Study of Propagation and Extinction of Nonsteady Spherical Flame Fronts," SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Vol. 49, pp. 1029-1046 (1989).

Ronney, P.D., "On the Mechanisms of Flame Propagation Limits and Extinction Processes at Microgravity," Twenty Second Symposium (International) on Combustion, Combustion Institute, 1988, pp. 1615-1623.

Ronney, P.D., "Effect of Chemistry and Transport Properties on Near-Limit Flames at Microgravity," Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 59, pp. 123-141 (1988).

Ronney, P.D., "Effect of Gravity on Halocarbon Flame Retardant Effectiveness," Acta Astronautica, Vol. 12, pp. 915-921 (1985).

Ronney, P.D., "Effect of Gravity on Laminar Premixed Gas Combustion II: Ignition and Extinction Phenomena," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 62, pp. 120-132 (1985).

Ronney, P.D., Wachman, H. Y., "Effect of Gravity on Laminar Premixed Gas Combustion  I: Flammability Limits and Burning Velocities," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 62, pp. 107-119 (1985).

Patents (6)

Ronney, P. D., Cohen, A. L., Evans, J. D., "Fuel Formulation for Use with Portable Electronic Devices," pending.

Haile, S., Ronney, P. D., Shao, Z.,  Power generator and method for forming the same, U. S. Patent No. 7,247,402, July 24, 2007.

Ronney, P. D., "Thermal transpiration pump for gaseous material driven by chemical reaction," pending (utility patent application filed May 29, 2004, application 10/857,670)

Cohen, A., Ronney, P. D., Frodis, U., Sitzki, L, Meiburg, E., Wussow, S., "Microcombustor and combustion-based thermoelectric microgenerator," U. S. Patent No. 6,951,456, Oct. 4, 2005 (continuation of patent No. 6,613,972).

Cohen, A., Ronney, P. D., Frodis, U., Sitzki, L, Meiburg, E., Wussow, S., "Microcombustor and combustion-based thermoelectric microgenerator," U. S. Patent No. 6,613,972, Sept. 2, 2003.

Durbin, E. J., Ronney, P. D.,  "Method and Apparatus For Force or Torque Control of a Combustion Engine," U.S. Patent No. 5,184,592, Feb. 9, 1993.

Invited Conference Presentations (28)

Hydrocarbon-fueled internal combustion engines:  the worst form of vehicle propulsion, except for all the other forms, Alternative Futures for the Automobile, May 23-24, 2007, Los Angeles, CA.

Turbulent combustion of lean hydrogen-air mixtures:  what we need to know but still don't, NSF Workshop on Research Frontiers for Combustion in the Hydrogen Economy, Arlington, VA, March  9-10, 2006.

Bernard Lewis Lectureship of the Combustion Institute - presented 8 different invited 1-hour lectures to various educational and research institutions in Taiwan, Sept. 2005.

Some innovative applications of combustion science and technology, Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, Oct. 17-18, 2005, Stanford, CA.

Excess Enthalpy Combustion for Microscale Power Generation, 2nd Zeldovich Memorial International Conference on Combustion and Detonation, Moscow, Russia, September 2004.

Fuel-flexible single-chamber solid oxide fuel cells, DARPA Workshop on Fuel-Flexible Sustainable Microscale Power Sources, Vail, CO, September 2004.

Swiss-roll thermal management systems, DARPA workshop on Thermal Management for Micro- and Meso-power Systems, Chicago, IL, May 2004.

Thermal and Chemical Cells, Electric Power in Vivo Workshop and Symposium, Los Angeles, CA, February 2004.

Effect of Gravity on Combustion Processes, Congrs Franais de Mcanique, Nice, France, Sept. 1 - 4, 2003.

Flame balls: Recent experimental and computational results, Gordon Conference on Gravitational Effects in Physico-Chemical Systems , July 27 – 31, 2003, New London, CT.

 Premixed-gas flames at microgravity, First International Symposium on Microgravity Research & Applications in Physical Sciences and Biotechnology, Sorrento, Italy, September 10 - 14, 2000.

 Combustion research:  from earth to outer space and back, Environmental Molecular Sciences Symposia and First EMSL User Meeting, Richland, Washington, July 21-24, 1999.

Diffusive and hydrodynamic instabilities of flames, Symposium on Chemical Waves, Fronts and Patterns, Fall National Meeting , American Chemical Society, New Orleans, LA, Aug. 22-26, 1999.

Understanding Combustion Processes Through Microgravity Research: Recent Advances and Future Challenges, Gordon Conference on Gravitational Effects in Physico-Chemical Systems , June 27 – July 2, 1999, Henniker, New Hampshire.

 Instabilities and Dynamics of Front Propagation in Narrow Channels, Gordon Conference on Oscillations and Dynamic Instabilities in Chemical Systems, June 6-11, 1999, Barga, Italy.

Dynamics of Front Propagation in Narrow Channels, Modeling of Reactive Fronts: At the Interface of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry,  April 19 - 21, 1999, Lyon, France.

Understanding Combustion Processes Through Microgravity Research, plenary lecture, 27th International Symposium on Combustion, Boulder, CO, August 2 - 7, 1998.

Structure Modification and Quenching of Premixed Gas Flames by Turbulence, Japan Conference on Premixed Turbulent Combustion, Tokyo, Japan, November 17, 1997.

"Combustion Experiments in Space," 36th Israel Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences, Tel-Aviv/Haifa, Israel, February 21-22, 1996.

"Combustion Experiments on Spacelab Mission MSL-1," 6th International Space Conference of Pacific Basin Societies, December 6-8, 1995, Marina del Rey, CA.

"Propagation and Extinction Mechanisms of Premixed Turbulent Flames," Joint U.S./Japan Workshop on Mathematical Modeling in Combustion and its Interaction with Numerical Computation, July 25 - 29, 1994, Kaapa, Hawaii.

"Laser versus Conventional Ignition of Flames," SPIE Symposium on Laser Applications in Combustion and Combustion Diagnostics, Jan. 16-23, 1992, Los Angeles, CA.

"Effects of Ambient Atmosphere on Flame Spreading and Extinction," Workshop on Spacecraft Fire Safety Risk Analysis Assessment, Oct. 31 - Nov. 1, 1991, Los Angeles, CA.

"New Premixed Gas Combustion Phenomena," Gordon Research Conference on Gravitational Effects in Physico-Chemical Systems, June 16-21, 1991, Plymouth, NH.

"Effects of Free and Forced Convection on Near-Limit Premixed Turbulent Flames," V. A. Michelson Conference on Combustion and Explosion, September 17-21, 1990, Moscow, USSR.

Ronney, P. D., "An Experimentalist's View of Combustion Theory," Tenth International Workshop on the Mathematics of Combustion, July 28-30, 1990, Poitiers, France.

"Throttleless Otto-Cycle Natural Gas Engines:  NOx Emissions Characteristics," GRI Workshop on NOx Mechanisms in Natural-Gas Flames, July 18-20, 1990, Chateau d'Esclimont, France.

"Applications of Renormalization Group Analysis to Turbulent Combustion:  Theoretical and Experimental Considerations," Tsukuba Workshop on Combustion, March 22-23, 1990, Tsukuba, Japan

Ronney, P. D., "Requirements for Temperature and Species Concentration Measurements in Microgravity Combustion Experiments," NASA Noncontact Temperature Measurement Workshop, April 30-May 1, 1987, Washington, D. C.; published in Proceedings of the Noncontact Temperature Measurement Workshop (M. C. Lee, ed.), NASA Conference Publication 2503, 1988, p. 129-138.

Other publications (7)

Ronney, P. D., Throttleless Premixed-Charge Engines, in: Global Automotive Manufacturing and Technology, World Markets Research Centre Ltd., London, May 2001, pp. 64 – 68.

Ronney, P. D., "A Perspective on the Role of Microgravity in Combustion Research," Combustion and Flame, Vol. 116, pp. 317-318 (1999) (invited contribution).

Ronney, P. D., "Combustion Experiments on Spacelab Mission MSL-1," in: Advances in the Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 91, Peter M. Bainum et al., eds., 1996, pp. 397-407.

Buckmaster, J. D., Ronney, P. D., Smooke, M. "Flame Balls: Past, Present, and Future," AIAA Paper No. 93-0712, 1993.

Ronney, P. D. and Yakhot, V., "Flame Broadening Effects on Premixed Turbulent Flame Speed," in:  Turbulent Premixed Flames: A State of the Art (I. Gokalp and M. Champion, eds.), Presses Du CNRS, Paris, France, 1992.

Buckmaster, J. D., Lee, C. J., Joulin, G., Ronney, P. D., "Modelling of Microgravity Ignition Experiments," in: Recent Advances in Combustion Modelling (B. Larrouturou, ed.), Series in Advances in Mathematics for Applied Sciences, Vol. 6, pp. 1-18, World Scientific Press, Teaneck, NJ, 1991.

Ronney, P. D., "An Investigator's Suggestions for Effective Use of the NASA-JSC Reduced Gravity Program KC-135A Aircraft," in: JSC Reduced Gravity Program User's Guide, NASA JSC-22803, July 1991.

Recent presentations (partial list)

Bretschger, O., Finkel, S., Iverson, L., Kim, B. H., Mansfeld, F., Nealson, K., Prakash. S., Ronney, P. D., Wang, H., Lttge, A., Bioengineered Fuel Cells:  Optimization via Genetic Approaches and Multi-Scale Modeling, 6th PowerMEMS Workshop, Nov. 29 – Dec. 1, 2006, Berkeley, CA.

Ahn, J., Ronney, P. D., Effect of Wall Thermal Conductivity and Thickness on the Performance of Heat-Recirculating Reactors, Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, Stanford, CA, October 17 – 18, 2005.

Posthill, J., Reddy, A., Siivola, E., Krueger, G., Mantini, M., Thomas, P., Venkatasubramanian, R., Ochoa, F., Ronney, P. D., Portable power sources using combustion and thermoelectrics, 24th International Conference on Thermoelectrics, Clemson, SC, June 2005.

Ahn, J., Ronney, P. D., Shao, Z., Haile, S.,  A Thermally Self-Sustaining Miniature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, 4th Joint U.S. Sections Meeting, Combustion Institute, Philadelphia, PA, March 2005.

Ochoa, F., Ronney, P. D., A thermal transpiration-based self-pressurizing mesoscale combustor 4th Joint U.S. Sections Meeting, Combustion Institute, Philadelphia, PA, March 2005.

Kuo, C.-H., Ronney, P. D., Numerical Modeling of Heat Recirculating Combustors, 4th Joint U.S. Sections Meeting, Combustion Institute, Philadelphia, PA, March 2005.

Ahn, J., Ronney, P. D., Plastic Mesocombustors, 4th Joint U.S. Sections Meeting, Combustion Institute, Philadelphia, PA, March 2005.

Cha, M.-S., Manasra, S., Ronney, P. D., Propagation Rates of Non-Premixed Edge Flames, 4th Joint U.S. Sections Meeting, Combustion Institute, Philadelphia, PA, March 2005.

Son, Y.,  Zouein, G., Gokoglu, S., Ronney, P. D., Comparison of Carbon Dioxide and Helium as Fire Extinguishing Agents for Spacecraft, 4th Joint U.S. Sections Meeting, Combustion Institute, Philadelphia, PA, March 2005.

Theiss, N.,  Levin, J., Liu, J. B., Zhao, J., Wang,  F., Ronney, P. D.,  Gundersen, M. A., Transient Plasma Discharge Ignition for Internal Combustion Engines 4th Joint U.S. Sections Meeting, Combustion Institute, Philadelphia, PA, March 2005.

Ahn, J., Eastwood, C., Ronney, P. D., Zongping, S., Kwak, C., Haile, S., A Thermally Self-Sustaining Miniature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, 30th Symposium (International) on Combustion, Chicago, IL, July 2004 (poster presentation).

Theiss, N.,  Levin, J., Liu, J. B., Zhao, J., Wang,  F., Ronney, P. D.,  Gundersen, M. A., Corona Discharge Ignition for Advanced Stationary Natural Gas Engines ASME Internal Combustion Engine Division Fall Technical Conference, Long Beach, CA, October 2004.

M. Abid, M., Liu, J.-B., Ronney, P. D., Struk, P. M., Weiland, K. J., Structure Of Flame Balls At Low Lewis-number (SOFBALL) experiment, 2nd Zeldovich Memorial International Conference on Combustion and Detonation, Moscow, Russia, September 2004.

Kwon, O. C., Abid, M., Liu, J. B., Ronney, P. D., Struk, P. M., Weiland, K. J., Structure Of Flame Balls At Low Lewis-number (SOFBALL) Experiment, Paper No. 2004-0289, 42nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 5-8, 2004.

Liu, J. B., Wang, F., Lee, L., Ronney, P. D., Gundersen, M. A., Effect of fuel type on flame ignition by transient plasma discharges, AIAA Paper No. 2004-0837, 42nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 5-8, 2004.

Liu, J. B., Wang, F., Lee, L., Ronney, P. D., Gundersen, M. A., Effect of Discharge Energy and Cavity Geometry on Flame Ignition by Transient Plasma, AIAA Paper No. 2004-1011, 42nd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 5-8, 2004.

Ahn, J., Eastwood, C., Ronney, P. D., Extinction Limits of Heat-Recirculating Burners, Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, October 20-21, 2003, Los Angeles, CA.

Kuo, C. H., Eastwood, C., Ronney, P. D., Numerical Modeling of Heat-Recirculating Burners, Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, October 20-21, 2003, Los Angeles, CA.

Son, Y., Zouein, G., Ronney, P., Instabilities of upward-spreading flames over thermally thick fuels, Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, October 20-21, 2003, Los Angeles, CA.

Kuo, C. H., Eastwood, C., Sitzki, L., Borer, K., Ronney, P., Numerical Modeling of Heat-Recirculating Burners, 3rd Joint US Sections Meeting of the Combustion Institute, Chicago, IL, March 21-23, 2003.

Liu, J. B., Ronney, P. D., Premixed flame ignition by transient plasma discharges, 3rd Joint US Sections Meeting of the Combustion Institute, Chicago, IL, March 21-23, 2003.

Ahn, J., Eastwood, C., Sitzki, L., Borer, K., P., Ronney, P., Catalytic and Non-Catalytic Combustion in Heat-Recirculating Burners, 3rd Joint US Sections Meeting of the Combustion Institute, Chicago, IL, March 21-23, 2003.

Chen, C., Kwon, O. C., Liu, J., Ronney, P. D., Strain and heat loss effects on the propagation rates of edge flames, 3rd Joint US Sections Meeting of the Combustion Institute, Chicago, IL, March 21-23, 2003.

Kwon, O. C, Abid, M., Ronney, P. D., Wu, M. S., Ju, Y., Numerical modeling of flame balls with radiative reabsorption effects, 3rd Joint US Sections Meeting of the Combustion Institute, Chicago, IL, March 21-23, 2003.

Maruta, K., Takeda, K., Sitzki, L., Borer, K., Ronney, P. D., Wussow, S., Deutschmann, O., "Catalytic Combustion in Microchannel for MEMS Power Generation, " Third Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion, Seoul, Korea, June 24-27, 2001.

Sitzki, L, Borer, K., Schuster, E., Ronney, P. D., Wussow, S., "Combustion in Microscale Heat-Recirculating Burners," Third Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion, Seoul, Korea, June 24-27, 2001.

Sitzki, L., Borer, K., Wussow, S., Schuster, E., Ronney, P. D. and Cohen, A., "Combustion in Microscale Heat-Recirculating Burners," Paper No. 2001-1087, 39th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 8-11, 2001.

Honda, L., Son, Y. and Ronney, P. D., "Radiation-Driven Flame Spread Over Thermally-Thick Fuels in Quiescent Microgravity Environments," Paper No. 2001-0467, 39th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 8-11, 2001.

Abid, M., Aung, K., Ronney, P. D., VanZandt, D. V., "Effects of Lewis Number on Flame Ball Dynamics," Paper No. 2001-0623, 39th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 8-11, 2001.

Wu, M.-S., Ju, Y. and Ronney, P. D., Numerical Simulation of Flame Balls with Radiative Reabsorption Effects, Paper No. 2000-0851, 38th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 11-14, 2000.

Kaiser, C., Liu, J.-B. and Ronney, P. D., Diffusive-thermal Instability of Counterflow Flames at Low Lewis Number, Paper No. 2000-0576, 38th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Reno, NV, January 11-14, 2000.

Abid, M., Sharif, J. and Ronney, P. D., Premixed-Gas Flame Propagation in Hele-Shaw cells, Spring Technical Meeting, joint U. S. Sections, Combustion Institute, Washington, D.C., March 15-17, 1999.

Liu, J. B. and Ronney, P. D., Premixed Edge-Flames in Spatially-Varying Straining Flows, Spring Technical Meeting, joint U. S. Sections, Combustion Institute, Washington, D.C., March 15-17, 1999.

Abid, M., Sharif, J. and Ronney, P. D., "Propagating Fronts in Hele-Shaw Cells: Effects of Buoyancy and Thermal Expansion," Spring Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, Berkeley, CA, March 23-24, 1998.

Sharif, J., Abid, M. and Ronney, P. D., "Mechanisms of Premixed Gas Flame Propagation in Quasi-2D Channels," Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, Diamond Bar, CA, October 23-24, 1997.

Honda, L. and Ronney, P. D., "Effects of Atmospheric Composition on Flame Spread at Microgravity," Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, Diamond Bar, CA, October 23-24, 1997.

Abid, M. and Ronney, P. D., "Propagation Rates of Buoyant Chemical Fronts in Aqueous Solution," Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, October 28-29, 1996.

Sharif, J. and Ronney, P. D., "Premixed Gas Flame Propagation in a Hele-Shaw Cell," Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, October 28-29, 1996.

Liu, J. B., Ronney, P. D., "Interferometry System for g Combustion Experiments," Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, October 28-29, 1996.

Lim, E. H., McIlroy, A., Ronney, P. D., Syage, J. A., "Effect of Spark Kernel Dynamics on Minimum Ignition Energies of Combustible Gases," Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, October 28-29, 1996.

Zhu, J.-Y. and Ronney, P. D., "Numerical Simulation of Buoyant Chemical Front Propagation in Hele-Shaw Flow," 6th SIAM Conference on Numerical Combustion, March 4-6, 1996, New Orleans, LA.

Ronney, P. D., "Dynamics and Pattern Formation in Propagating Chemical Fronts in Buoyant and Turbulent Flows," 15th Dynamics Days Texas, Houston, TX, Jan. 3-6, 1996.

Fortmeyer, J. M. and Ronney, P. D., "Radiatively-Driven Flow in Gases," 48th Annual Meeting, Division of Fluid Dynamics, American Physical Society, Irvine, CA, November 19-21, 1995.

Honda, L. and Ronney, P. D., "Mechanisms of Concurrent-Flow Flame Spread Over Solid Fuels," Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Western States Section, Stanford, CA, October 30-31, 1995.

Liu, J. B., Ronney, P. D., "Robust Interferometer System for Drop Tower Experiments," SPIE International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, July 9-14, 1995, San Diego, CA.

Delichatsios, M. A., Ronney, P. D., "Horizontal and Lateral Flame Spread on Solids: Closure and Diffusional Lewis Number Effects," Fall Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Eastern States Section, Dec. 5-7, 1994, Clearwater Beach, FL.

Ronney, P. D., Greenberg, J. B., Zhang, Y., Roegner, E. V., "Control of Fire Spread Through Ambient Atmosphere Effects," 34th Israel Conference on Aerospace Sciences, Feb. 16-17, 1994, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Wang, Q., Ronney, P. D., "Mechanisms of Flame Propagation Limits in Vertical Tubes," Spring Technical Meeting, Combustion Institute, Eastern/Central States Section, March 15-17, 1993, New Orleans, LA.

 


Ph.D. Students – graduated or within 1 year of completion

 

Name

Year

Thesis Title

Current Employer

and Position

Mohamed Abid

1999

Instabilities of Propagating Quasi-2D Gaseous Flames and Chemical Fronts in Narrow Channels

Project manager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena

Linton Honda

2001

Effects of Convection and Radiation on Flame Spread Over Solid Fuel Beds

Project manager, Boeing Inc., El Segundo, CA

Youngjin Son

2004

Transport and Chemical Effects on Flame Spread over Thick Solid Fuel Beds in Microgravity and Earth Gravity Environments

Engineer, Hyundai Corp., Korea

Jeongmin Ahn

2005

An Experimental Study of Catalytic and Non-Catalytic Reaction in Heat Recirculating Reactors and Applications to Power Generation

Assistant Professor, Washington State University

James Kuo

2006

Numerical Modeling of Non-adiabatic Heat Recirculating Combustors

Assistant Professor, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Science, Taiwan

David Clayton

2007

Experimental Investigation of the Propagation and Extinction of Edge-Flames

Technical staff member, Exponent, Los Angeles, CA

Seungro Lee

2008 (expected)

High-Sensitivity Multidimensional Photobleaching Velocimetry

N/A


UNIVERSITY AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

 

Courses taught

 

USC:

 

AME 101 (Introduction to Mechanical Engineering and Graphics) – Fall 2005, Fall 2006

AME 331 (Heat Transfer) – Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2006

AME 436 (Energy and Propulsion) –Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2006

AME 514 (Applications of Combustion) – Fall 2004, Fall 2006 (graduate course)

AME 517 (Radiation heat transfer) – Fall 2003 (graduate course)

ME 310 (Thermodynamics I) - Fall 1993, Fall 1994

ME 331 (Heat Transfer) - Spring 1994, Spring 2000, Spring 2002, Spring 2003

ME 406 (Automotive engines) - Spring 1995, Spring 1996, Spring 1998, Spring 1999, Spring 2002

ME 430 (Thermal systems design) - Fall 1997

ME 436 (Energy and Propulsion) – Fall 1998, Fall 1999, Fall 2000, Fall 2001, Spring 2003

ME 599 (Special topics in combustion) - Fall 1995, Fall 2002 (graduate course)

 

Princeton:

 

MAE 435 (Special Topics, Propulsion) - Fall 1986

MAE 221 (Thermodynamics) - Spring 1987, Spring 1988, Spring 1989

MAE 427 (Mobile Power Plants {includes automotive engines, gas turbines and rockets) - Fall 1987, Fall 1988, Fall 1989*, Fall 1990, Fall 1991, Fall 1992

MAE 594 (Combustion) - Spring 1990, Spring 1991, Spring 1992, Spring 1993 (graduate course)

 

*Received Princeton Engineering Council Excellence in Teaching Award for this class.

 

Committees

 

Invited Panelist

 

1st National Energy Symposium, Los Angeles, CA, Dec. 7, 2006

2nd National Energy Symposium, Sacramento, CA., Dec. 7, 2006

3rd National Energy Symposium, Washington, DC., Dec. 7, 2006

 

National Advisory Boards

 

Member, University Space Research Association Microgravity Science Council, 2000 – 2004.

 

University of Southern California

 

Future Energy and Fuels and Initiatve (2005 – 2006)

General Education Committee (1998-2000)

 

School of Engineering, USC

 

Chair, Instructional Laboratory Assessment Committee (2001-2003)

Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure (1998-2000)

Research Committee (1999-2001)

 

Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, USC

 

Pi Tau Sigma faculty advisor (1999 – present)

Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) faculty advisor (Advising students building an experiment that will fly on the NASA KC-135 microgravity research aircraft) (2006 – present)

Salary Committee (1994-95)

Seminar Committee (1995-96)

Freshman Advisor (1997-99)

 

Princeton University

 

Committee on Undergraduate Life 1987-88

 

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University

 

ASME Faculty Advisor (1986-89)

Seminar Committee (1987-1993)

Freshman Advisor (1987-1992)

Junior Class Advisor (1987-1991)

Senior Class Advisor (1987-1992)

Undergraduate Committee (1987-1992)

 

Reviewer for manuscripts submitted to

 

AIAA Journal

AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power

American Chemical Society Books

Applied Mechanics Reviews

Archivum Combustionitis

ASME Journal of Heat Transfer

Cambridge University Press

Chaos

Combustion Science and Technology

Combustion Theory and Modelling

Combustion and Flame

Experiments in Fluids

Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science

Fire Safety Journal

Fuel

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research

International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems (13th)

International Symposia on Combustion (21st - 28th)

Journal of Applied Physics

Journal of Fluid Mechanics

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London

Progress in Energy and Combustion Science

Microscale Thermophysical Engineering

Microgravity Science and Technology

National Research Council COBASE program

Nature

Physical Review Letters

Physical Review E

Physics of Fluids

SIAM Journal of Applied Mathematics

Springer-Verlag Publishers

 

Reviewer for proposals submitted to

 

METRANS

National Science Foundation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Petroleum Research Foundation

State of California Energy Innovations Small Grant Program

U. S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research

U. S. Department of Energy

U. S. State Department International Science and Technology Center

U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation

USC Center for Interdisciplinary Research

 

Honorary Societies

 

Phi Beta Kappa (Liberal arts)

Tau Beta Pi (Engineering)

Pi Tau Sigma (Mechanical engineering)

 

Professional Societies

 

Combustion Institute

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (senior member)

Institute of Physics (Fellow)

 

Consulting

Irvine Sensors, Inc., Irvine, CA – microscale combustion and power generation

Sigma-K Corp. – biomass fueled furnaces

RTI International – microscale combustion and power generation

MEMGen Corp., Torrance, CA - microscale combustion and power generation

Alstom Corp., Hartford CT - laser ignition

Greenrun Engine Co. - natural-gas engine development

General Atomics, San Diego, CA; Flammability and deflagration hazards of CAMDS DFS (Chemical Agent Munition Disposal System, Deactivation Furnace System)