William L. Roberts

Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of Clean Combustion Research Center

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Research Interests

​Dr. Roberts’ research interests include experimental combustion, propulsion, and laser-based optical diagnostics for reacting flows.  Of fundamental interest is the complex interaction between the various length and velocity scales in turbulent flows and the chemical kinetics associated with combustion.  His focus is on understanding these interactions in canonical flames, using advanced techniques to measure scalar and vector quantities of interest.  He is currently building a unique high-pressure combustion capability at KAUST which will be used to understand combustion phenomena, particularly formation of pollutants such as soot, occurring in practical combustion hardware such as gas turbines and internal combustion engines.

Selected Publications

  • NO and OH emission characteristics of very-lean to stoichiometric ammonia-hydrogen-air swirl flames. Zhu, X., Khateeb, A.A., Guiberti, T.F., Roberts, W.L. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, (2020).
  • Soot formation in laminar flames of ethylene/ammonia. Bennett, A.M., Liu, P., Li, Z., Kharbatia, N.M., Boyette, W., Masri, A.R., Roberts, W.L. Combustion and Flame, 220, 210-218, (2020).
  • Stability limits and exhaust NO performances of ammonia-methane-air swirl flames. Khateeb, A.A., Guiberti, T.F., Zhu, X., Younes, M., Jamal, A., Roberts, W.L. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 114 (2020).
  • Stability limits and NO emissions of technically-premixed ammonia-hydrogen-nitrogen-air swirl flames. Khateeb, A.A., Guiberti, T.F., Zhu, X., Younes, M., Jamal, A., Roberts, W.L. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 45(41), 22008-22018, (2020).
  • Combustion behavior of ammonia blended with diethyl ether. Issayev, G., Giri, B.R., Elbaz, A.M., Shrestha, K.P., Mauss, F., Roberts, W.L., Farooq, A. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, (2020).
  • Role of dimethyl ether in incipient soot formation in premixed ethylene flames. Li, Z., Liu, P., Zhang, P., Wang, Y., He, H., Chung, S.H., Roberts, W.L. Combustion and Flame, 216, 271-279, (2020).
  • The growth of PAHs and soot in the post-flame region. Liu, P., Li, Z., Roberts, W.L. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 37(1), 977-984, (2019).

Education

  • ​Ph.D., Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1992
  • B.S.E, Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1986

Professional Profile

  • 2012-Present: Professor, Mechanical Engineering program, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, KSA.
  • 1994-2013: Assist., Assoc., and Professor, Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
  • 2001-2013: Director, Applied Energy Research Laboratory, NC State University.
  • 1992-1994: Research Engineer, Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Co, NASA Langley Program Office, Hampton, VA
  • 1989-1991: Engineer, Environmental Management Sciences, Brighton MI
  • 1987-1989: Aerospace Engineer, Analytical Services (ANSER), Co, Arlington, VA

KAUST Affiliations

  • Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC)
  • Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE)
  • Mechanical Engineering Program