Education
- 2008: Ph.D. in Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (cum Laude – Advisor: Prof. T. Faravelli), Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- 2004: Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (cum laude), Politecnico di Milano, Italy
National positions
- 2014 – present: Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- 2008 – 2014: Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering “G. Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
International positions
- 2018: Visiting Professor, CentraleSupélec, Paris, France
- 2014: Visiting Professor, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium (“Chaire Internationale” from the Bureau des Relations Internationales et de la Coopération)
- 2006-2007: Visiting Scholar, C-SAFE (Center for the Simulation of Accidental Fires and Explosions), University of Utah (USA)
Honors and awards
- 2013: The following paper has been awarded the Sugden Prize, given annually to the best journal publication of a British Section member the Combustion Institute: Dixon-Lewis et al., Inhibition of hydrogen oxidation by HBr and Br2, Combustion and Flame (2012)
[Access the paper here] - 2009: ENI Award 2009 “Debut in Research Prize”
Publication details and research interests
The full list of publications can be retrieved from my Scopus link.
- Web of Science. Papers: 91, Citations: 1845, h-index: 22
- Scopus. Papers: 101, Citations: 2220, h-index: 25
- Google Scholar. Papers: 135, Citations: 3122, h-index: 29
My main research interests are focused on the numerical simulation of reacting flows, with special emphasis on the chemical kinetic aspects. In particular, two main research areas are currently under investigation:
- Detailed kinetic mechanisms of pyrolysis, oxidation and combustion: this activity is focused on the development, tuning, and continuous improvement of detailed kinetic mechanisms describing the pyrolysis, oxidation and combustion of hydrocarbon and oxygenated fuels. The aim is to model their reactivity in a wide range of operating conditions, both in the high and low temperature ranges. Particular attention is devoted to the analysis of flammability and laminar flame speed of hydrocarbon fuels. The formation of combustion byproducts and pollutant species (NOx and carbonaceous particles), representing a major source of risk for human health, is a further area of interest. In particular, the following topics are object of investigation:
- kinetic mechanisms for biofuels and large hydrocarbon fuels
- autoignition and extinction phenomena, flame speeds and cool flames
- kinetic mechanisms for solid fuels devolatilization, gasification and combustion
- Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) of reacting flows, coupled with detailed kinetic mechanisms: The focus is the numerical modeling of reacting flows in complex geometries with detailed kinetic mechanisms, both in laminar and turbulent conditions. The activity is organized as follows:
- numerical modeling of laminar and turbulent lab-scale flames, to better understand the routes leading to the formation of pollutant species
- interactions between turbulence and kinetics: coupling between detailed kinetics and complex fluid dynamics to predict and study the formation of pollutant species (unburned hydrocarbons, aldehydes, PAHs, NOx and soot) in combustion devices (combustors for aeromobiles, burners, industrial furnaces, etc.)
- CFD modeling of pool fires in tunnels and confined environments for risk analysis
- numerical modeling of heterogeneous catalytic reactors