Dr Paul Medwell

Biography/ Background

Dr Paul Medwell is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Adelaide. He has over ten years of combustion research experience and is internationally recognised for his research in MILD (moderate or intense low oxygen dilution) combustion and also his work work in the development and application of advanced laser diagnostic techniques to the measurement of flames and harsh reacting environments. Over the years Dr Medwell has expanded his research interests to include humanitarian engineering, solar energy, jet noise and sports engineering. He has published over 50 scientific articles, and regularly presents his findings to international audiences. In addition to his research work, Dr Medwell serves as an engineering consultant to industry.

In 2012 Dr Medwell was granted a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) by the Australian Research Council (ARC), for a project entitled Resolving flame stabilisation mechanisms in the transition to MILD combustion.
Opportunities exist for postgraduate students to participate in this project.

For further information please consult my personal website: http://personal.mecheng.adelaide.edu.au/paul.medwell

Research Interests

• Combustion
• Laser Diagnostics
• Sports Engineering

I have projects available for Masters and PhD students in a wide range of areas including sports engineering, combustion and laser diagnostics. Please contact me for more information. Further details on some of these projects is available on the CET website.

Research Funding

$375,000	Resolving flame stabilisation mechanisms in the transition to MILD combustion P.R. Medwell Australian Research Council: Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (2012)
$320,000	Resolving the mechanics of turbulent noise production C.J. Doolan; L.A. Brooks; P.R. Medwell Australian Research Council: Discovery Project (2012)
$200,000	Supercontinuum fibre laser consortium for the chemical and materials sciences T.W. Kee; E.J. Bieske; G.F. Metha; T.A. Smith; P.R. Medwell; K.P. Ghiggino Australian Research Council: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (2013)
$400,000	Controlled radiation facility to investigate turbulence-radiation-chemistry interactions in highflux solar reactors G.J. Nathan; A.R. Masri; E.R. Hawkes; Z.T. Alwahabi; B.B. Dally; P.J. Ashman; P.R. Medwell; M.J. Dunn; R. Taylor Australian Research Council: Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (2013)

Publications

 Journal Publications

1. Kinetic and fluid dynamic modeling of ethylene jet flames in diluted and heated oxidant stream combustion conditions
   Shabanian, S.R., Medwell, P.R., Rahimi, M., Frassoldati, A., and Cuoci, A.
   Applied Thermal Engineering (2013), 52(5), pp. 538–554.

2. Temperature measurements in turbulent non-premixed flames by two-line atomic fluorescence
   Medwell, P.R, Chan, Q.N., Dally, B.B., Mahmoud, S., Alwahabi, Z.T., and Nathan, G.J.
   Proceedings of the Combustion Institute (2013), 34, pp. 3619–3627.

3. Experimental Observation of Lifted Flames in a Heated and Diluted Coflow
   Medwell, P.R, and Dally, B.B.
   Energy & Fuels (2012), 26(9), pp. 5519–5527.

4. Feature Article: Effect of fuel composition on jet flames in a heated and diluted oxidant stream
   Medwell, P.R., and Dally, B.B.
   Combustion and Flame (2012) 159, pp. 3138-3145.

5. Feature Article: New Seeding Methodology for Gas Concentration Measurements
   Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Dally, B.B., Alwahabi, Z.T., and Nathan, G.J.
   Applied Spectroscopy (2012) 66(7), pp. 803-809.

6. Flow seeding with elemental metal species via an optical method
   Medwell, P.R., Chan, Q.N., Dally, B.B., Alwahabi, Z.T., Mahmoud, S., Metha, G.F., and Nathan, G.J.
   Applied Physics B (2012) 107(3), pp. 665-668.

7. Developing sports engineering education in Australia
   Medwell, P.R., Grimshaw, P.N., Robertson, W.S., and Kelso, R.M.
   Procedia Engineering (2012) 34, pp. 260-265.
   

8. Recent advances in the measurement of strongly radiating turbulent and reacting flows
   Nathan, G.J., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., Medwell, P.R., and Chan, Q.N.
   Progress in Energy and Combustion Science (2012) 38(1), pp. 41-61.

9. Assessment of Interferences to Nonlinear Two-line Atomic Fluorescence (NTLAF) in Sooty Flames
   Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., and Nathan, G.J.
   Applied Physics B (2011) 104, pp. 189-198.

10. The influence on the soot distribution within a laminar flame of radiation at fluxes of relevance to concentrated solar radiation
    Medwell, P.R., Nathan, G.J., Chan, Q.N., Alwahabi, Z.T. and Dally, B.B.
    Combustion and Flame (2011) 158, pp. 1814-1821.

11. Analysis of the lawn bowl trajectory as a teaching tool for sports engineering: Development of a graphical user-interface
    Medwell, P.R., Brooks, L.A., and Medwell, B.S.
    Procedia Engineering (2011) 13, pp. 531-537.
    

12. Simultaneous Imaging of Temperature and Soot Volume Fraction
    Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., and Nathan, G.J.
    Proceedings of the Combustion Institute (2011) 33, pp. 791-798.

13. Solvent Effects on Two-Line Atomic Fluorescence (TLAF) of Indium
    Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., and Nathan, G.J.
    Applied Optics (2010) 49(8), pp. 1257-1266.

14. Instantaneous Temperature Imaging of Diffusion Flames Using Two-Line Atomic Fluorescence
    Medwell, P.R., Chan, Q.N., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., and Nathan, G.J.
    Applied Spectroscopy (2010) 64(2), pp. 173-176.

15. Reaction Zone Weakening Effects Under Hot and Diluted Oxidant Stream Conditions
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., and Dally, B.B.
    Combustion Science and Technology (2009) 181(7), pp. 937-953.

16. Development of temperature imaging using two-line atomic fluorescence
    Medwell, P.R., Chan, Q.N., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., and Nathan, G.J.
    Applied Optics (2009) 48(6), pp. 1237–1248.

17. Imaging of Diluted Turbulent Ethylene Flames Stabilised on a Jet in Hot Coflow (JHC) Burner
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., and Dally, B.B.
    Combustion and Flame (2008) 152, pp. 100–113.

18. Simultaneous Imaging of OH, Formaldehyde and Temperature of Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames in a Heated and Diluted Coflow
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., and Dally, B.B.
    Combustion and Flame (2007) 148, pp. 48–61.

Conference Publications

1. New seeding methodology for concentration measurement
   Chan, Q. N., Medwell, P. R., Mahmoud, S., Dally, B. B., Alwahabi, Z.T., and Nathan, G. J.
   6th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (2011), Canberra, Australia, pp. 51-54.

2. Invited Review: Temperature measurement in particle-laden reacting flows
   Medwell, P. R., Chan, Q. N., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B. B. and Nathan, G. J.
   6th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (2011), Canberra, Australia, pp. 6-13.

3. New seeding methodology for two-line atomic fluorescence Part II: Reacting flows
   Medwell, P. R., Chan, Q. N., Dally, B. B., Alwahabi, Z.T., and Nathan, G. J.
   Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium (2011), The University of Newcastle, pp. 211-214.

4. New seeding methodology for two-line atomic fluorescence Part I: Non-reacting flow
   Chan, Q. N., Medwell, P. R., Dally, B. B., Alwahabi, Z.T., and Nathan, G. J.
   Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium (2011), The University of Newcastle, pp. 207-210.

5. Invited Review: Turbulent Jet Flames under Hot Coflow Conditions
   Dally, B. B., Birzer, C. H., and Medwell, P. R.
   Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium (2011), The University of Newcastle, pp. 23-30.

6. Analysis of the Lawn Bowl Trajectory as a teaching tool for Sports Engineering: development of a graphical user-interface
   Medwell, P. R., Brooks, L.A., and Medwell, B.S.
   5th Asia-Pacific Congress on Sports Technology (2011), RMIT, Melbourne, Australia.
   

7. Evaluation of Nonlinear regime Two-line Atomic Fluorescence (NTLAF) in Sooty Flames
   Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., and Nathan, G.J.
   8th Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion (2010), Hyderabad, India.

8. Invited Review: Recent advances in measurement of turbulent reacting flows in which heat transfer is dominated by radiation
   Nathan, G.J., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., Medwell, P.R. and Chan, Q.N.
   14th International Heat Transfer Conference (2010), Washington DC, USA.

9. Investigation of the Mixing Patterns inside a MILD Combustion Furnace
   Dally, B.B., Szegö, G.G., Christo, F.C. and Medwell, P.R.
   8th High Temperature Air Combustion and Gasification International Symposium (2010), Poznan, Poland.

10. Simultaneous imaging of Soot Concentration and Temperature in Ethylene Diffusion Flames
    Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., and Nathan, G.J.
    CHEMECA (2010), Hilton Adelaide, Australia.

11. Effect of Fuel Type on the Reaction Zone Structure of Moderate and Intense Low Oxygen Dilution (MILD) Combustion
    Medwell, P.R., Dally, B.B., and Chan, Q.N.
    CHEMECA (2010), Hilton Adelaide, Australia.

12. Invited Review: Progress and challenges in experimental investigations of realistic turbulent reacting flows
    Nathan, G.J., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B., Medwell, P.R., and Chan, Q.N.
    Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Institute (2009), University of Queensland, 23-37.

13. LCV Fuels Emissions of Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames Under MILD Combustion Conditions
    Colorado, A.F., Medwell, P.R., and Dally, B.B.
    Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Institute (2009), University of Queensland, 43-46.

14. Comparison of Water and Acetone as Solvent for Two-Line Atomic Fluorescence (TLAF)
    Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B. and Nathan, G.J.
    Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Institute (2009), University of Queensland, 95-98.

15. Temperature imaging of nonpremixed flames using non-linear regime two-line atomic fluorescence (NTLAF)
    Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B. and Nathan, G.J.
    Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Institute (2009), University of Queensland, 63-66.

16. Effects of Solvent on Laser-induced Fluorescence in the context of Two-Line Atomic Fluorescence
    Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B. and Nathan, G.J.
    Australasian Conference on Optics Lasers and Spectroscopy (2009), The University of Adelaide, 44-45.

17. Temperature Measurement Using Non-Linear Two-Line Atomic Fluorescence
    Chan, Q.N., Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B. and Nathan, G.J.
    7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion (2009), National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.

18. Development of Two-Line Atomic Fluorescence (TLAF) Technique for Temperature Measurement
    Medwell, P.R., Chan, Q.N., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B. and Nathan, G.J.
    5th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (2008), University of Western Australia, Perth, 115-118.

19. Non-Linear Regime Two-Line Atomic Fluorescence (NTLAF) For Temperature Measurement
    Medwell, P.R., Chan, Q.N., Kalt, P.A.M., Alwahabi, Z.T., Dally, B.B. and Nathan, G.J.
    5th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (2008), University of Western Australia, Perth, 119-122.

20. The Role of Hydrocarbon Addition on the Structure and Stability of Hydrocarbon Flames in a JHC Burner
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M. and Dally, B.B.
    7th High Temperature Air Combustion and Gasification International Symposium (2008), Phuket, Thailand.

21. Influence of Fuel Composition on the MILD Combustion Reaction Zone Structure in a JHC Burner
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M. and Dally, B.B.
    Proceedings of the Australian Combustion Symposium (2007), University of Sydney, 54-57.

22. Influence of Fuel Type on Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames Under MILD Combustion Conditions
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M. and Dally, B.B.
    16th Australasian Fluid Mechanics Conference (2007), Gold Coast, Australia, 1350-1355.

23. Structure of Ethylene Based Nonpremixed Flames Stabilised on a JHC Burner
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M. and Dally, B.B.
    6th Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion (2007), Nagoya Congress Centre, Nagoya, Japan, 452-455.

24. Effect of Fuel Dilution on Jet Flames in a Hot and Diluted Coflow
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M. and Dally, B.B.
    5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion (2005), The University of Adelaide, 325-328.

25. Effect of Reynolds number on the Spatial Distribution of OH and Formaldehyde in Jet Flames in a Hot and Diluted Coflow
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M. and Dally, B.B.
    5th Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion (2005), The University of Adelaide, 381-384.

26. Quantification of OH-LIF in Jet Diffusion Flames
    Medwell, P.R., Kalt, P.A.M. and Dally, B.B.
    4th Australian Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Fluid Mechanics and Combustion (2005), The University of Adelaide, McLaren Vale, 105-108.

 

Professional Interests

• Combustion
• Fluid Mechanics
• Energy Production & Utilisation
• Laser Applications
• Equipment maintenance and repair
• Sports Engineering

Teaching Interests

• Sports Engineering
  • Introduction to Sports Engineering
  • Sports Engineering I
  • Sports Engineering II
  • Sports Engineering III
• Combustion
  • Aerospace Propulsion
  • Combustion Technology & Emission Control
  • Combustion Processes
    

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	Engineering, Sport
Expertise	Combustion Laser Diagnostics Sports Engineering

Entry last updated: Saturday, 9 Feb 2013