Sunderland Gives Invited Talk at ASGSR 2021 Symposium

On November 4, Peter Sunderland, a professor in the University of Maryland (UMD) Department of Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) - who has made headlines as of late due to his micro-gravity research currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) - gave a talk at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) 2021 Annual Meeting in Baltimore, entitled, "Transformative Combustion Research in the ACME Suite of ISS Experiments."

Since 2017, hundreds of microgravity combustion tests have been performed on the International Space Station using the ACME insert of the Combustion Integrated Rack. These involve gaseous fuel and they come from six independent projects:

Burning Rate Emulator
Coflow Laminar Diffusion Flames
Cool Flames Investigation with Gases
Electric-Field Effects on Laminar Diffusion Flames
Flame Design
Structure and Response of Spherical Diffusion Flames

In his talk, Sunderland discussed these experiments and summarized their key findings. The experiments utilize the microgravity environment to explore unusual flame conditions that cannot be obtained in normal gravity. The results are transformative and inspire novel combustion research, both on Earth and in orbit.

The ASGSR, founded in 1984, seeks to "advance biological and physical sciences research in, of, and for space by bringing together professional communities spanning gravitational biology, radiation biology, physical sciences, bioastronautics and astrobiology, and mentoring the future scientific and engineering leaders in these fields." This organization brings together a diverse group of scientists and engineers to encourage an exchange of ideas bridging basic and applied biological and physical sciences research and technology in space and on the ground. The organization is devoted to furthering the field of gravitational research.

For additional information, please visit https://asgsr.org/.

Published November 5, 2021