Dr. Stickler has an extensive background in fundamental combustion science, which provides a base for development of innovative concepts for thermal systems. Recent technology innovations include advanced glass synthesis; low emission coal combustion and power system integration; hybrid rocket fuel burn rate enhancement; forced unsteady combustion for gas turbine emission control; and gas turbine blade cooling. He also provides technical support for industrial implementation of these technologies.
Energy and Propulsion Technology
The Center for Energy and Propulsion Technology at ARI provides a strong interdisciplinary approach to research and technology development, focused on interactions of combustion, fluid flow and transport processes. Experimental, analytical and numerical techniques are combined both to develop innovative technological concepts and to enhance fundamental understanding of key processes. Research in this area is supported by U.S. government agencies, including the Advanced Research Projects Agency, Army, Navy and Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Energy, and by industry sponsors, including the Gas Research Institute and Hague International.
Research & Technology Areas
- Minature IC Engine (MICE) Generator for Portable Electric Power
- Free-Piston Pump Technology
- Optical Pyrometry Instrumentation for Power Systems
- Two-Stroke Engine PM2.5 Emission Reduction
- Nanoparticle Classification and Separation Technology
- Gas Turbine Combustion/Emission Control
- Gas Turbine Blade Cooling
- Turbine and Nozzle Chemical Processes
- MicroAir Vehicle System and Propulsion Technology
- Spectroscopic Measurement of Exhaust Pollutant Species
- Mixer/Ejector Nozzle Cold Flow Simulation Facility
- Contrail Formation - Chemical and Microphysical Modeling
- Aircraft Plume and Wake Effects
- Advanced Propellant Combustion Modeling
- Pulverized Coal Combustion Modeling
- Soot Formation Mechanisms and Kinetics
- Flow Diagnostics - LIF, Rayleigh, Chemiluminescence and Particle Scattering
- Solid and Hybrid Propellant Combustion
- Exhaust Afterburning Mechanisms
- Advanced Coal Combustor Development
- Glass Thermal Synthesis Technology
Internal Facilities
- Tunable Infrared, Visible and Ultraviolet Laser Fluid
- Flow and Property Diagnostics
- Pressurized Solid Propellant Strand Burner
- High Temperature Kinetics Flow Reactor
- Pulverized Fuel Research Burner
Specialized External Resources
- Cold Flow Simulation Facility (Delivered by ARI to AATD)
- NASA NAS SP2 Parallel Machine - via Internet connection
- NASA Lewis W-8 Compressor Test Facility
- MIT Gas Turbine Laboratory Flow and Thermal Facilities
- Hague International Flow and Combustion Facilities
- AEDC Engine Test Facilities
Personnel
David B. Stickler
Ph.D, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kurt Annen
Ph.D, Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
.Dr. Annen's research is in the areas of energy conversion, combustion, heat transfer, and flowfield diagnostics. His recent research focus is the development of a miniature internal combustion engine (MICE) generator for portable electric power generation, capable of operation on JP-8, and diesel, as well as propane. He designed and performed stress analysis for the condenser and turbine disc components for a new technology vaporization-cooled turbine blade in a DARPA-funded test and demonstration program. Other research areas have included the development of improved IR countermeasures by modifying and improving the combustion characteristics of IR decoys, and the development and application of combustion diagnostics including a chemiluminescent tracer for visualization of high NOx formation regions in combustion devices, a field-portable FTIR spectrometer system, a LIBS instrument for metal alloy analysis, a high precision O2 LIF temperature diagnostic for turbomachinery, a laser Rayleigh scattering diagnostic for temperature and density, and a laser backscatter particle diagnostic that was use in one of the first in-situ measurements of particle size distribution and concentration in an industrial boiler.
Publications
Miniature Internal Combustion Engine-Generator for High Energy Density Portable Power, K.D. Annen, D.B. Stickler, and J. Woodroffe, Paper HO-02, 26th Army Science Conference, Dec. 2008.
Experimental Evaluation of a Turbine Blade with Potassium Evaporative Cooling, J. Townsend, J. Kerrebrock, D. Stickler, J. Propul. Power, 24, 410-415, 2008.
Experimental Evaluation of a Turbine Blade with Potassium Evaporative Cooling, J. Townsend, J. Kerrebrock, D. Stickler, 40th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Fort Lauderdale FL, AIAA Paper No. 2004-3571
Glow Plug-Assisted HCCI Combustion in a Miniature Internal Combustion Engine (MICE) Generator,
K.D. Annen, D.B. Stickler, and J. Woodroffe, AIAA Paper No.2006-1349, January 2006.
Linearly-Oscillating Miniature Internal Combustion Engine (MICE) for Portable Electric Power, K.D. Annen, D.B. Stickler, and J. Woodroffe, AIAA Paper No. 2003-1113, January 2003.
Miniature Motor Generator, US Patent No. 6,349,683 B1, 26 February 2002, K.D. Annen, D.B. Stickler, and P.L. Kebabian
Vaporization Cooling for Gas Turbines, the Return-Flow Cascade, J.L. Kerrebrock, D.B. Stickler, Transactions of the ASME, 122, 36-42 (2000).
Vaporization Cooling for Gas Turbines, The Return Flow Cascade, J.L. Kerrebrock and D.B. Stickler, ASME Turbo Expo, June (1998).
Kinetic Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis for B/H/O/C/F Combustion Systems, R.C. Brown, C.E. Kolb, R.A. Yetter, F.L. Dryer and H. Rabitz, Comb. and Flame, 101, 221-238 (1995).
Infrared Tunable Diode Laser Measurements of Nitrogen Oxide Species in and Aircraft Engine Exhaust, J. Wormhoudt, M.S. Zahniser, D.D. Nelson, J.B. McManus, R.C. Miake-Lye and C.E. Kolb, Conference on Optical Techniques in Thermal, Fluid and Combustion Flows, SPIE 1995 International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering and Instrumentation, SPIE 2546 (1995).
Studies of Pyrolytic Products in Soil Using Infrared Tunable Diode Laser Detection, J. Wormhoudt, J.H. Shorter and C.E. Kolb, Energetic Materials Symposium, Materials Research Society, 1995 Fall Meeting.
Kinetic Model for Hydrocarbon-Assisted Particulate Boron Combustion, R.C. Brown, C.E. Kolb, S.Y. Cho, R.A. Yetter, F.L. Dryer and H. Rabitz, International. J. Chem. Kinetics, 26, 319-332 (1994).
Plume and Wake Dynamics, Mixing and Chemistry Behind an HSCT Aircraft, R.C. Miake-Lye, M. Martinez-Sanchez, R.C. Brown, and C.E. Kolb, J. Aircraft, 30, 467 (1993).
Gas Temperature Measurements Using a Dual-Line Detection Rayleigh Scattering Technique, M.V. Otugen, K.D. Annen and R.G. Seasholtz, AIAA J., 31, 2098 (1993).
Kinetics of High Temperature Hydrocarbon Assisted Boron Combustion, R.C. Brown, C.E. Kolb, S.Y. Cho, R.A. Yetter, H. Rabitz and F.L. Dryer, in Gas-Phase Metal Reactions, A. Fontjin, Editor, p. 643, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., The Netherlands, (1993).
Infrared Fiber Optic Diagnostic for Solid Propellant Combustion, J. Wormhoudt and P.L. Kebabian, Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings 296, Structure and Properties of Energetic Materials, Boston, MA (1992)
Design of a Gas Turbine Coal Combustor Using a 3-D Numerical Code, A.U. Chatwani, A. Turan, R.C. Diehl and D.B. Stickler, 1992 Joint Power Generation Conference and Exhibition, Atlanta GA
Fluid Dynamic and Chemistry Effects on Thrusted Decoy Exhaust Plume IR Intensity, K.D. Annen and E.J. Strang, 20th JANNAF Exhaust Plume Technology Meeting, CPIA Pub 568, p 391, May (1991).
Combustion Technology Development for an Advanced Glass Melting System, D.B. Stickler, L. Westra, J. Woodroffe, K.-M. Jeong, and L.W. Donaldson, Presented at Ninth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition, Houston, Texas, September 16-18, (1987).
Dr. David Stickler
Director
978-663-9500, Ext. 254
978-663-4918
Nominal 5-10 W and 300-500 W MICE Generators with AA Battery
Related Publications:
Miniature Internal Combustion Engine-Generator for High Energy Density Portable Power, K.D. Annen, D.B. Stickler, and J. Woodroffe, Paper HO-02, 26th Army Science Conference, Dec. 2008.
Glow Plug-Assisted HCCI Combustion in a Miniature Internal Combustion Engine (MICE) Generator,
K.D. Annen, D.B. Stickler, and J. Woodroffe, AIAA Paper No.2006-1349, January 2006.
Miniature Motor Generator, US Patent No. 6,349,683 B1, 26 February 2002, K.D. Annen, D.B. Stickler, and P.L. Kebabian