Ben T. Zinn Combustion Laboratory

NASA Hybrid-Electric Engine CFD Automation

About The Company

The Ben T. Zinn Combustion Laboratory at Georgia Tech is a world-class research facility advancing sustainable aerospace propulsion and power generation technologies. It has a 20,000 sq. ft. experimental facility and cutting-edge computational resources, with which BTZ combines fundamental combustion research with real-world applications to enable a sustainable future for advanced transportation and power systems.

Contact: Adam Steinberg

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Email: adam.steinberg@gatech.edu

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Phone: 404-894-1130

Duration Sep 2022 - May 2025

My Role Automation Engineer

Organization Georgia Tech

Team Size 12 Engineers

Key Technologies

Computation:

Ansys Fluent Converge CFD Cantera

Automation:

Python C++ Bash

Hardware:

LabVIEW Control Systems Pipes and Flanges

Explore This Project ↓ ← View All Projects

1The Challenge & The Solution

Tackling Complex CFD Design for a Hybrid-Electric Future

The Challenge

NASA hybrid-electric engine requires small form design to facilitate combustion
Solving the challenge of ultra-low NOx emissions in constrained spaces forces novel engineering approaches
The high cost and infeasibility of experimental testing demands a comprehensive CFD approach

My Approach

I developed an automation framework for CFD modeling for Ansys Fluent and Converge CFD software
I created scripts and bridges to fully automate parametric design studies, including geometry, mesh, boundary condition generation, and post processing
I built a comprehensive Tracking Dashboard to monitor optimization progress and dynamically correct performance predictions
My efforts resulted in a self-sustained platform that learns from simulations to progressively lower combustor emissions

NASA CFD Automation Workflow Diagram showing simulation pipeline — Automated CFD workflow pipeline

CFD Simulation Screenshot showing combustion analysis — Extensive analysis of each design iteration

CAD of early rig design — CAD example of early rig design (NOT PROPRIETARY)

2Deliverables & Impact

A patent-pending, innovative solution is now being studied using my automation framework

250%

Reduction in Setup Time

0.7%

NOx Emissions reduction

145%

Improvement in performance tracking and evaluation

Key Deliverables

BTZ Dashboard: a custom WebApp, powered by an SQL database and Tecplot performs in-depth analysis and comparison of optimization results
Hardware installations: connected and calibrated sensors, pipes (NPT, Swagelok fittings), ensured accuracy of monitoring equipment
CAD designs: produced 3D models of engine parts for the Machine Shop and computational simulations
Automation: a collection of interconnected scripts that facilitate hands-free design optimization

BTZ Dashboard in Action

Demonstration of the BTZ Dashboard, which synchronizes with the case database to visually track and assess results

3Technology Stack

Tools and Technologies Employed in This Project

CFD & Simulation

Ansys Fluent

Converge CFD

Geometry and Mesh Generation

Turbulence models

Multiphase flow

Databases & Dashboards

MySQL

Queries and storage

Connection pools and encryption

Python

Dash

Plotly

JavaScript

C++

Automation & Analysis

Python

C++

Matlab

Scikit-Learn

Scripting

Interfaces

Tecplot

Hardware Integration

LabVIEW

RIO Box

Cable management

Pipe installation

Pressure sensors

Temperature probes