Axelbaum studies combustion phenomena, ranging from oxy-coal combustion to flame synthesis of nanotubes. His studies of fossil fuel combustion focus on understanding the formation of pollutants, such as soot, in order to develop novel approaches to eliminating them. In response to global concerns over carbon dioxide emissions he has begun developing approaches to carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Axelbaum’s research has also yielded methods of synthesizing stable metal nanoparticles and single-walled carbon nanotubes in flames.His present efforts in synthesis are directed towards producing next-generation battery materials.
Richard Axelbaum in the McKelvey School of Engineering and collaborators have documented a new type of flame — created in space — that may help engineers design cleaner-burning combustion engines.
At the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, the situation and the fallout that followed — the rolling or lasting blackouts, national attention, the termination of the energy group’s CEO — prompted Richard Axelbaum, Stifel & & Quinette Jens Professor of Environmental Engineering Science, and Phillip Irace, PhD candidate and NSF Graduate Student Fellow, to take a closer look.
The federal Office of Fossil Energy has granted researchers at the McKelvey School of Engineering nearly $7 million to refine a new power plant that’s suitable for fossil fuels and renewables — and will emit almost no carbon.
Aerosol research at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis is working at breakneck speed to understand the novel coronavirus and its effects at scales ranging from ecosystems to virus particles suspended in droplets.
A new, joint master’s degree program and shared aerosol science research facility is the latest collaboration in a long history of partnerships between the McKelvey School of Engineering and the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station have begun an experiment that will allow them to ignite a flame and observe and study its properties. If the experiments — directed by a McKelvey School of Engineering faculty member — show what researchers expect they will, they could lead to a new, fundamental understanding of the properties of combustion.
Since the industrial revolution, coal, oil and natural gas have driven unprecedented growth in life span, population, income, education and quality of life. They have done so by providing us with energy 24/7/365, and the International Energy Agency projects that fossil fuels will account for a whopping 77 percent of our energy use in 2040.
An experiment designed by an engineering team at Washington University in St. Louis soon will be performed in space. The experiment, called Flame Design, was on board a SpaceX Dragon rocket that launched into orbit June 3.
As the EPA takes next steps to replace the Clean Power Plan, an engineer at Washington University in St. Louis who studies fossil fuel combustion says this week’s move will make it difficult for power providers to plan for the future.
Carbon dioxide, which enters the atmosphere through the burning of coal and other fossil fuels, is a significant contributor to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, President Barack Obama proposed a sweeping climate action plan to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Washington University in St. Louis, a leader in advanced coal research and technology, will be contributing to the president’s plan with research funded by a $3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
A team of engineers at the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University has received two grants totaling more than $1.3 million to develop innovative ways to cleanly burn coal for energy. The awards are part of a more than $5 billion investment strategy by the Obama Administration in clean coal technologies and research and development.
Richard L. Axelbaum, PhD, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, is the new Stifel & Quinette Jens Professor in Environmental Engineering Science. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton installed him in a ceremony Oct. 31 in Brauer Hall.
The Advanced Coal and Energy Research Facility, an experimental combustion facility on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis, was dedicated in October 2010. At the time, the combuster was cold and the bioreactors empty. Now that the facility is up and running, Richard Axelbaum, PhD, professor of energy, environmental & chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science and director of the new facility, gives a video tour of the new laboratory.
Washington University Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced during a Dec. 2 news conference the establishment of the Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization. The university has dedicated more than $60 million in financial resources during the past year to advance education and research related to energy, environment and sustainability.
A news conference to announce a clean coal initiative with a goal of making St. Louis the nation’s center for clean coal research will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008, at Whitaker Hall on the Washington University Danforth Campus. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, along with heads of Peabody Energy, Arch Coal and Ameren, will make the announcement.
