Mark Donohue Email & Phone Number

Stanford, Ca

Advisor:Professor Chris EdwardsDissertation Title: In-Cylinder Fuel Reforming for Small-Scale Mixed Combustion/Electrochemical EnginesSummary: Previous research has shown that the efficiency of piston engine-based energy systems is limited to around 60% primarily due to the large exergy destruction due to combustion itself (~20%). This work explores the prospects of using a fuel cell in conjunction with the piston engine to create a combined system where some of the fuel oxidation occurs in a restrained manner in the fuel cell, with the hopes of reducing the overall exergy destruction associated with fuel oxidation. System-level modeling indicates that by integrating a fuel cell downstream of a low-heat-rejection (LHR) piston engine, the exergy destruction due to reactions is indeed reduced by approximately 50%. In this architecture, though, one would need to perform rich combustion in a direct-injection (DI), compression-ignition (CI) strategy in a manner that sufficiently reforms the fuel such that it can be utilized by downstream catalytic components without generating large amounts of soot that could damage the downstream components. There have been other research efforts that show that by using the LHR strategy, methanol and ethanol can be used as DI-CI fuels up to a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio without generating soot above the current regulation limit. This work investigates rich combustion strategies for these fuels through single-cylinder research engine emissions studies, single-cylinder optical access experiments, and the development of a quasi-one-dimensional phenomenological combustion model.

Stanford, Ca

Course Assistant for Energy Systems: Modeling and Advanced Concepts course (Winter 2013-2015)- Responsibilities included weekly office hours and leading weekly discussion sectionsCourse Assistant for Internal Combustion Engines course (Fall 2016)- Responsibilities included weekly office hours and preparing and leading weekly lab sections that offered hands-on experience with performance and emissions measurements

Stanford, Ca

- Preliminary research of rich combustion in spark-ignition engines for a prospective combined combustion/electrochemical system- Constructed and tested a cold exhaust gas recirculation system to explore extending the load range of HCCI engines

Orlando, Fl

Worked with Professor Nina Orlovskaya on measuring the mechanical properties and residual stresses of ultra-high temperature ceramics using Raman spectroscopy, Vickers hardness testing, and confocal microscopy

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Mechanical Engineering

Master Of Science (Ms), Mechanical Engineering

Area of Concentration: Energy Systems Breadth Areas: High Temperature Gas Dynamics and Automatic Controls

Bachelor Of Science (Bs), Mechanical Engineering