I’m honored to contribute once again to the turbulent combustion course at von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, where I’ve been teaching as a lecturer for many years. Many thanks to Luc Vervisch and Denis Veynante for inviting me to contribute…. and of course Jeroen van Beeck for the excellent organization.

This year, I will focus on soot formation (i.e., nanoparticles), application-driven aspects, and solid fuels. Interestingly, the meaning of solid fuels has evolved significantly over the years. In the early days, I mainly covered coal and biomass. Today, while biomass remains central, I’ll also explore the use of metals as energy carriers.

From single-particle combustion all the way to turbulent flames – and beyond.

In recent years, our research within Clean Circles has extended into techno-economic analysis.

• Can we sustainably transport renewable energy over long distances using iron as a carrier?
• How does this compare to hydrogen?
• What is the overall system efficiency?

These and many other questions link the world of reactive thermofluid dynamics (which truly is fundamental research!) to the global energy system. And I find that incredibly exciting.

Looking forward to insightful discussions – see you soon in Brussels!