{"id":133,"date":"2015-05-04T09:06:05","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T09:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owwwlab.com\/wp-faculty-2\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-02-17T14:40:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T14:40:40","slug":"sample-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rotavera.uga.edu\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

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[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ el_class=”home_banner”][vc_single_image image=”418″ img_size=”400 \u00d7 135″ el_class=”home_logo”]

Uncovering Complex Reaction Mechanisms in Combustion<\/h1>\n[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row parallax=”content-moving” css=”.vc_custom_1489753465474{padding-top: -120px !important;background-color: rgba(252,252,252,0.61) !important;*background-color: rgb(252,252,252) !important;}” el_class=”full-width no-padding hompage-secnd-section”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”152″ img_size=”670 \u00d7 398″ alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1483964022783{padding-right: 40px !important;padding-left: 40px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ el_class=”home_banner”][vc_column_text]Responsible use of natural resources for sustainable transportation energy motivates ongoing research efforts\u00a0towards increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing emissions of combustion systems. At current rates, over 70% of annual petroleum consumption in the United States is diverted to the transportation sector, which derives more than 95% of its energy requirements from liquid hydrocarbons and biofuels. Because of the high energy density of liquid fuels, among other reasons, the transportation sector is projected to remain reliant on petroleum-based hydrocarbons for decades to come.<\/p>\n

However, the combined approach of advanced combustion strategies and new, advanced biofuels<\/a><\/strong> intends to augment this scenario by enabling more-efficient, cleaner-burning combustion\u00a0systems and by providing sustainable sources of liquid fuels produced from a growing number of biomass conversion technologies. One critical aspect to the success of these concurrently developing areas of research is the availability of high-fidelity predictive modeling and simulation tools that can enable co-optimization of combustion strategies with complex biofuels. Chemical kinetics models are one piece of the larger scientific puzzle and require basic research into questions such as how molecular structure impacts reaction mechanisms, ignition chemistry, pollutant formation,\u00a0and other combustion phenomena.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”fix-bg” css=”.vc_custom_1479905872804{background-image: url(https:\/\/rotavera.uga.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/UGA-Entrance-Marker-2.jpg?id=182) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:28|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:1.2″ google_fonts=”font_family:PT%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

Research Themes<\/h2>\n[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”314″ img_size=”819 \u00d7 1024″ alignment=”center” el_class=”image-holder” title=”Combustion Chemistry”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Combustion chemistry, along with fluid dynamics and multi-phase physics, plays an integral role in the production of energy for transportation, and is\u00a0governed by a complex network of interconnected reaction mechanisms<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Understanding the intricacies\u00a0of such\u00a0mechanisms, which span thousands of distinct chemical species and elementary reactions,\u00a0enables the development\u00a0of computational models that are employed in the\u00a0design and simulation of\u00a0next-generation combustion\u00a0strategies focused on higher efficiency and reduced pollutant formation.<\/p>\n

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Biofuels are an alternative energy source\u00a0purposed for mitigating consumption of petroleum-based fuels, namely gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel, as well as augmenting internal combustion engine efficiency and contributing to a lower\u00a0carbon-intensive transportation sector.<\/p>\n

Most biofuels are functionalized hydrocarbons such as ethanol (H3<\/sub>CCH2<\/sub>OH) and butanone (H3<\/sub>CC(=O)CH2<\/sub>CH3<\/sub>), although alkanes, aromatics, and other hydrocarbons produced from biomass are not, e.g. farnesane (2,6,10-trimethyldodecane).<\/p>\n

Under certain combustion conditions, functional groups can impact reaction pathways\u00a0that govern autoignition<\/a><\/strong>, which is sustained by chain-branching reactions, and reaction pathways\u00a0involved in\u00a0pollutant formation.<\/p>\n

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In addition to CO, NOx<\/sub>, CO2<\/sub>, and H2<\/sub>O, byproducts of combustion include volatile organic compounds (VOC), which\u00a0are implicated in health- and climate-related issues.<\/p>\n

Globally, the transportation sector, which is driven principally by combustion, is responsible for 128 Tg per year of VOC emissions – approximately 10% compared to\u00a0biogenic sources that largely produce isoprene, monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes.<\/p>\n

Because of the differences in molecular structure between functionalized biofuels and conventional, petroleum-derived hydrocarbons, the combustion of biofuels can\u00a0alter the types of VOC emitted from\u00a0the transportation sector, and\u00a0understanding the ensuing impact on atmospheric chemistry\u00a0is an important area in the atmospheric sciences.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”fix-bg” css=”.vc_custom_1525144065012{background-image: url(https:\/\/rotavera.uga.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Sundial-2.jpg?id=1165) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:28|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff|line_height:1.2″ google_fonts=”font_family:PT%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

Professor Brandon Rotavera<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/12″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/12″]

Education<\/h3>\n