ERC Starting Grant for Francesco Avallone and Ivan Langella
The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the ERC Starting Grants for young researchers. Two of them are scientists from the faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft. This European grant of €1.5 million for a five-year programme is designed to allow individual scientists to build their own teams and carry out pioneering research.
Ivan Langella: stable hydrogen combustion with low nitrogen oxides emissions
Assistant Professor Dr Ivan Langella researches hydrogen combustion processes in aircraft engines, among others. Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier, also for aircraft: it can be made from water, it provides a lot of energy and it is carbon-free (if produced sustainably). But there are also challenges. For instance, the combustion of hydrogen in a gas turbine combustion engine is difficult to control and combustion still releases nitrogen oxides (NOx), a toxic pollutant. In the OTHERWISE research proposal, Langella investigates how to burn hydrogen with a stabile hydrogen flame and at the same time low NOx emissions. He does so by - for the first time - using a combination of intensive strain and water injection.
Francesco Avallone: quiter aircraft by describing how flow and acoustics interact over engine noise reduction technologies
Assistant Professor Dr Francesco Avallone investigates unexplained experimental results found when a sound wave encounters turbulent air currents over surfaces treated with acoustic liners. To explain these uncomprehended results, Avallone will start measuring acoustic and hydrodynamic velocities near an acoustically treated surface with new experiments and numerical analysis. With his research, named LINING, Avallone hopes to resolve the scientific debate on the unexpected results and pave the way for future surfaces with low noise and low drag. The research could thereby contribute to more efficient aircraft propulsion and noise reduction through more sustainable aircraft engines.
Four ERC grants
Four young researchers at TU Delft received Starting Grants in this round. Read the entire post on the TU Delft website.
Read the press release on the website of the European Commission.
Contact
Dr. Ivan Langella, Assistant Professor Flight Performance and Propulsion, faculty of Aerospace Engineering TU Delft.
Dr. Francesco Avallone, Assistant Professor Wind Energy, faculty of Aerospace Engineering TU Delft.
Press officer Ineke Boneschansker, +31 (0) 6 140 151 19, i.boneschansker@tudelft.nl