IVG Overview

Founded in 1985, the Institute for Combustion and Gas Dynamics (IVG) conducts innovative research on high-temperature gas processes in engineering. Well known for its expertise on the prevention of soot formation, the IVG was among the first institutions to apply this knowledge to the production of valuable nanoparticles from the gas phase. Targeted synthesis and processing of such materials towards applications in the context of energy technology has become one main focus.

With its five chairs, Thermodynamics (Professor Burak Atakan), Nanoparticle Process Technology (Professor Markus Winterer), Particle Science and Technology (Professor Doris Segets), Reactive Fluids (Professor Christof Schulz), and Fluid Dynamics (Professor Andreas Kempf), the IVG covers a wide range of research on high-temperature reactions and processing of the generated materials into functional coatings. The team consists of around 100 scientists, including Profs. Kaiser, Mohri, Dreier, and Wiggers, Drs. Endres, Fikri, Özcan and Wlokas, and many postdocs and graduate students.

The IVG has unique experimental facilities and instruments, including reactors for nanoparticle synthesis up to the pilot scale, optically accessible internal combustion engines, and one of the world’s largest shock-tube laboratories for the investigation of high-temperature kinetics. A wide array of laser diagnostics enables the development and application of new strategies for quantitative in situ analysis of reactive flows. State of the art equipment for the characterization of powders, dispersions and coatings in combination with scalable processing (i.e., pilot scale roll-to-roll coating) assure that the generated materials can be tested in the systems context. The IVG also commands computational resources supporting its theoretical and modeling work.

The IVG is a major contributor to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, from thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and combustion to chemical kinetics, laser diagnostics, particle technology, and numerical techniques. A total of fifteen doctoral degrees and sixty bachelor’s and master’s theses each year give evidence of the institute’s active role in educating the next generation of scientists and engineers.