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Université de Lille
Research

Physicochemistry of combustion

Leaders

Laurent Gasnot

Guillaume Vanhove

The Team

The "Physicochemistry of Combustion" research team is interested in the chemical mechanisms related to combustion, be it the formation and/or destruction of pollutants (such as nitrogen oxides, soot and its precursors in flames, or unburned hydrocarbons), or the auto-ignition of fuels. To do so, the team deploys a variety of experimental devices equipped with advanced chemical analysis and optical diagnostics, and uses its results in the validation of physico-chemical models of combustion. These researches find their application in the current problems of reduction of polluting emissions and increase of the efficiency of systems based on combustion (automotive engines, aeronautics, boilers,...).

The research is developed within two research areas:

Axe 1 : Alternative energy carriers
Axe 2 : Flames and clean process

Team members

CNRS Researchers : Pascale Desgroux (DR), Alessandro Faccinetto (CR), Xavier Mercier (DR), Luc-Sy Tran (CR)
Ass. Professors & Professirs: Abderrahman El Bakali (PR), Yann Fenard (Ass. Pr), Laurent Gasnot (PR), Jean-François Pauwels (PREm), Eric Therssen (PR), Guillaume Vanhove (Ass. Pr., HDR)
Staff ITA-CNRS et BIATSS-Lille : Nathalie Lamoureux (IR, HDR)
Post-doctorants : Hong-Quan DO (ANR OFELIE)
PhD students : Nour el Baba (ADEME/LabEx CaPPA, 2025*), Nesrine Bekkal (Labex CaPPA/ED, 2023*), Pier-Henri Chevalier (ONERA, 2021*), Jean-Pierre Dufitumukiza (ONERA, 2022*), Mateus FREITAS PAIVA (I-Site PEARL, 2024*), Brendan Gachot (ONERA/ED-SMRE, 2025*), Mohamed Gahfif (LabEx CaPPA/MESRI, 2025*) Doha Kdouh (ANR OFELIE, 2024*), Marwa Saab (ED SMRE/ CaPPA, 2024*), Kanika Sood (ADEME/Région Hauts-de-France, 2023*), Xiangyu Zhu ( I-SITE ULNE, 2022*)

(* expected defense)

DR : Directrice de Recherche CNRS ; CR : Chargé.e de Recherche CNRS ; PR : Professeur des Universités ; PREm : Professeur des Universités Emérite ; Ass. Pr : Associate Professor ; HDR : Habilité.e à Diriger des Recherches ; IR : Ingénieure de Recherche ; IE : Ingénieur d'Etude ; AI : Assistante-Ingénieur ; T : Technicien.ne

Main Equipments and Know-How

  • Rapid Compression Machine
  • premixed and diffusion burners, low-pressure and atmospheric pressure
  • Analytical methods (GC-FID/TCD/MS, IRTF)
  • Spectroscopic laser Diagnostics (LIF, CRDS, LII, JCLIF)
  • Particle Metrology (nano-SMPS)
  • Development of detailed kinetic mechanisms

Collaborations

  • ANR OFELIE (2021-2024)
  • Contrat de Plan Etat/Région ECRIN (2021-2027)
  • PIA Labex CaPPA "Chemical and Physical Properties of the Atmosphere" (ANR-11-LABX-0005-01)
  • Biofuel-Soot (I-SITE ULNE: Combustion of BIOFUELs: contribution to identification of unknown formation mechanism of small SOOT particles)
  • PEPS "DeNOx-NH3-H2O" cellule Energie CNRS (2022)
  • ANR SIAC (2022-2026) Scientific Improvement on Ammonia Combustion (FITe Orléans, PC2A, CERFACS)
  • PEPR MONTHY (2022-2026), « Programme et Équipement prioritaire de recherche (PEPR) hydrogène décarboné qui s'inscrit dans la stratégie nationale pour le développement de l'hydrogène décarboné (Plan d'investissement France 2030) ». Collaborative research program involving interactions with EM2C and CORIA laboratories.