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Professor Abdulnaser Sayma

Professor of Energy Engineering, Director of the Thermo-Fluid Research Centre

School of Science and TechnologyDepartment of Engineering

Contact details

Address

Professor Abdulnaser Sayma C111, Tait Building
City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

Personal links

About

Overview

Professor Sayma obtained BSc in Mechanical Engineering with Distinction from Birzeit University in Palestine in 1987, MSc in Energy Technology from Salford University in 1990 and PhD from UMIST in 1994. His thesis topic was Finite Element model for dense gas dispersion in the atmosphere. He joined the Aeronautics department at Imperial College London in 1994 on EPSRC funded project as a research assistant where he worked on the development of an external aerodynamic compressible flow model introducing boundary layer grids and viscous effects in the Euler solver.

He Joined the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London in February 1994 as a Research Assistant working on the development of unstructured grid compressible flow solvers for viscous compressible flows with application for flow around complete aircraft. Subsequently, In 1996, he joined the Rolls Royce Vibration University Technology Centre (VUTC) at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, where he stayed for about 9 years. He progressed to a Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow and then Principal Research Fellow. In 2001, he was awarded the title RolIs Royce reaserch fellow at Imperial College and in 2003 he was awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Senior Research Fellow co-funded by Rolls-Royce Plc. During his spell at the VUTC, he was one of two main developers for the unsteady aerodynamics and aeroelatisity code AU3D which has been the main aeroelasticity system at Rolls Royce. He also contributed to several major aero-engine projects including analysis of compressors, fans, turbines, rotating cavities, intake and bypass ducts and downstream nozzles.

In 2005 he became a Senior Lecturer in Computational Mechanics at Brunel University. A year later, he was appointed as a Professor of Computational Fluid Dynamics at the University of Sussex where he worked at the Thermo-Fluid Mechanics Research Centre (TFMRC) at the Department of Engineering and Design. He continued to lead research in unsteady compressible flow in turbomacinery, where he focused on industrial gas turbines and micro-gas turbines. He held several senior administrative positions, the last of which was the Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange for the School of Engineering and Informatics. He also introduced a new MSc in Sustainable Energy Technology.

In January 2013, he joined City University London as a Professor of Energy Engineering. In 2014, he was appointed as the associate Dean for Post Graduate Studies at the School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering until July 2019. He held the position if Interim Dean for the School between November 2018 and February 2019. He is currently the Director of the Thermo-Fluids Research Centre since February 2019 and has been appointed as the Head of Engineering from 1st of January 2020, heading the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, the Department of Civil Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

He has led the Cycle Efficiency Technical Committee at the European Turbine Network (ETN) and has been a member of the ETN Project Board since 2014. He is the founder of the European Micro-Gas Turbine Forum (EMGTF) which was established in 2017 and has been the chairman of its advisory board.

Major research projects led: the EU FP7 consortium for conducting research and demonstration of a concentrated solar power system powering a small-scale micro-gas turbine (OMSoP), 2013-207, the Newton project jointly funded by InnovateUK and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MoST) on the development of concentrated solar power micro gas turbine technology coupled to thermal energy storage (SoLGATS) 2017-2019, The EPSRC funded project, Fundamental studies of Organic Rankine Cycles (NextORC), 2017-2020, and the Marie Curie Innovative Training Network, Next Generation of Micro Gas turbine technology for high efficiency and low emissions (NextMGT) 2020-2023. He has also led the Turbomachiney work package the EU project H2-IGCC 2009-2013 which aimed at the development of micro gas turbine technology for hydrogen-Rich Syngas and he is currently leading the Turbomachinery work package in the EU H2020 project SCARABEUS aiming at the development of supercritical carbon dioxide cycles for concentrated solar power plants.

Qualifications

  1. Certificate of Teaching and Learning, University College London, United Kingdom, Oct 2002 – Sep 2003
  2. PhD, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, Oct 1990 – Apr 1994
  3. MSc, University of Salford, United Kingdom, Oct 1989 – Sep 1990
  4. BSc Mechanical Engineering, Birzeit University, Palestinian Territory, Feb 1981 – Apr 1987

Employment

  1. Head of Engineering, City, University of London, Jan 2020 – present
  2. Director of Thermo-Fluids Research Centre, City, University of London, Feb 2019 – present
  3. Associate Dean, Post Graduate Studies, City University London, London, Feb 2014 – Jul 2019
  4. Professor of Energy Engineering, University of London, Jan 2013 – present
  5. Professor of Computational Fluid Dynamics, University of Sussex, Dec 2006 – Dec 2012
  6. Senior Lecturer in Computational Dynamics, Brunel University, Dec 2005 – Dec 2006
  7. Principal Research Fellow, Imperial College London, Jan 1996 – Dec 2005
  8. Research Associate, Imperial College London, Jan 1994 – Dec 1995

Awards

  1. EPSRC (2017) Fundamental Studies of organic Rankine Cycle Expanders (NextORC)
    The aim of this research is to improve the understanding of ORC expander design and off-design performance through developing, and validating, suitable tools to accurately predict design point scaling and off-design performance of ORC systems. Most notably, this refers to predicting the design and off-design performance of supersonic turbines and two-phase screw expanders. These tools will be validated through suitable experimental tests, and will then be used in steady state, dynamic and techno-economic simulations of different cycle configurations.
  2. InnovateUK (2017) Concentrated Solar Power micro gas turbine with thermal energy storage (SolGATS)
    The project aims at the development of a concentrated solar power (CSP) parabolic dish system generating electricity using a micro gas turbine (MGT) with thermal energy storage using solid particles, which can be used in combined power, heating and cooling. The aim is to advance current MGT-CSP technology developed by City University and integrate it with a solar dish technology and high temperature thermal storage using solid particles developed by Zhejiang University to provide an optimised system that can produce energy from solar power reliably while minimising the need for back up power thus maximising environmental benefit. The system is an alternative to CSP-Sterling technology that suffers from poor reliability and difficulty to integrate with thermal storage. The innovation arises from system and component level developments allowing the efficient and reliable integration. The technology can be deployed in standalone mode or stacked in a flexible manner for medium power plants. The advantages over Photovoltaic arise from the integrated energy storage, reduced land use, tri-generation and higher efficiency particularly in hot climates with direct sunlight.

Expertise

Geographic Areas

  • Asia - East
  • Europe

Research

Research interests

- Unsteady Aerodynamics and Aeroelaticity
- Gas Turbines for jet propulsion
- Industrial gas Turbines
- Micro-gas turbines
- Energy systems including solar power and waste heat recovery

Publications

Publications by category

Books (3)

  • Sayma, A. Computational Fluid Dynamics. Bookboon. ISBN 978-87-7681-430-4.
  • Long, C. and Sayma, N. Heat Transfer. Bookboon. ISBN 978-87-7681-432-8.
  • Long, C. and Sayma, N. Heat Transfer: Exercises. Bookboon. ISBN 978-87-7681-433-5.

Chapters (8)

  • Alzaili, J., White, M. and Sayma, A. (2020). Developments in Solar Powered Micro Gas Turbines and Waste Heat Recovery Organic Rankine Cycles. New Technologies, Development and Application II (pp. 439–452). Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-3-030-18071-3.
  • Iaria, D., Alzaili, J. and Sayma, A.I. (2018). Solar Dish Micro Gas Turbine Technology for Distributed Power Generation. Sustainable Energy Technology and Policies (pp. 119–131). Springer Singapore. ISBN 978-981-10-7187-4.
  • Sayma, A., Vahdati, M., Wu, X. and Imregun, M. (2003). Recent developments in unsteady flow modelling for turbomachinery aeroelasticity. In Elder, R.L., Towlidakis, A. and Yates, M.K. (Eds.), Advnaces of CFD in Fluid Machinery Design IMechE.
  • Vahdati, M., Sayma, A. and Imregun, M. (1999). Case studies in Turbomachinery Aeroelasticity using an integrated 3D non-linear method. In Sieverding, C.H. and Fransson, T.H. (Eds.), Aeroelasticity in axial-flow turbomachines, Lecture Series Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics.
  • Sayma, A., Vahdati, M., Green, J.S. and Imregun, M. (1998). Whole-assembly flutter analysis of a low pressure turbine blade. In Fransson ed, T.H. (Ed.), Unsteady Aerodynamics and Aeroelasticity of Turbomachines (pp. 347–359). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
  • Sbardella, L., Sayma, A. and Imregun, M. (1998). Semi-unstructured mesh generator for flow calculations in axial turbomachinery blading. In Fransson, T.H. (Ed.), Unsteady Aerodynamics and Aeroelasticity of Turbomachines (pp. 541–554). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
  • Piero, J. and Sayma, A. (1996). A 3-D unstructured multigrid Navier-Stokes solver. In Morton, K.W. and Baines, M.J. (Eds.), Numerical Methods for Fluids Dynamics Oxford University Press.
  • Sayma, A.I. Gas Turbines for Marine Applications. (pp. 1–10). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Conference papers and proceedings (52)

  • AbdElDayem, A., White, M.T. and Sayma, A.I. (2021). Comparison of CFD Predictions of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Axial Flow Turbines Using a Number of Turbulence Models. ASME Turbo Expo 2021: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition 7-11 June.
  • Aqel, O., White, M. and Sayma, A. (2021). Binary interaction uncertainty in the optimisation of a transcritical cycle: Consequences on cycle and turbine design. The 4th European sCO2 Conference for Energy Systems 23-24 March, Online.
  • White, M.T. and Sayma, A.I. (2020). Fluid selection for small-scale rankine cycle plants: Can you draw some lines in the sand?
  • White, M., Read, M. and Sayma, A. (2019). A comparison between cascaded and single-stage ORC systems taken from the component perspective. 5th International Seminar on ORC Power Systems 9-11 September, Athens, Greece.
  • Somehsaraei, H.N., Iaria, D., Al Zaili, J., Assadi, M., Sayma, A. and Ghavami, M. (2019). Application of Artificial Neural Networks for Monitoring and Optimum Operation Prediction of Solar Hybrid MGT Systems. ASME Turbo Expo 2019: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition 17-21 June.
  • White, M.T., Read, M.G. and Sayma, A.I. (2019). Comparison between single and cascaded organic Rankine cycle systems accounting for the effects of expansion volume ratio on expander performance.
  • White, M., Read, M. and Sayma, A. (2018). Using a cubic equation of state to identify optimal working fluids for an ORC operating with two-phase expansion using a twin-screw expander. 17th International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Conference 9-12 July, Purdue, USA.
  • White, M.T. and Sayma, A.I. (2018). Design of a Closed-Loop Optical-Access Supersonic Test Facility for Organic Vapours. ASME Turbo Expo 2018: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition 11-15 June.
  • White, M. and Sayma, A. (2018). A preliminary comparison of different turbine architectures for a 100 kW supercritical CO2 Rankine cycle turbine. The 6th International Supercritical CO2 Power Cycles Symposium 27-29 March, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • White, M.T., Read, M.G. and Sayma, A.I. (2018). Optimisation of cascaded organic Rankine cycle systems for high-temperature waste-heat recovery.
  • White, M.T. and Sayma, A.I. (2018). Design of a closed-loop optical-access supersonic test facility for organic vapours.
  • Al Zaili, J., Sayma, A. and Iaria, D. (2017). Reducing Levelised Cost of Energy and Environmental Impact of a Hybrid Microturbine-Based Concentrated Solar Power Plant. 2017 Global Power and Propulsion Forum 30 Oct 2017 – 1 Nov 2017.
  • Ghavami, M., Alzaili, J. and Sayma, A.I. (2017). A Comparative Study of the Control Strategies for Pure Concentrated Solar Power Micro Gas Turbines. ASME Turbo Expo 2017: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition 26-30 June.
  • Sayma, A., Iaria, D., Khader, M. and Al Zaili, J. (2017). Multi-Objective Optimisation of A Centrifugal Compressor for a Micro Gas Turbine Operated by Concentrated Solar Power.
  • Arroyo, A., McLorn, M., Fabian, M., White, M. and Sayma, A.I. (2016). Rotor-Dynamics of Different Shaft Configurations for a 6 kW Micro Gas Turbine for Concentrated Solar Power. ASME Turbo Expo 2016: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition 13-17 June.
  • White, M. and Sayma, A.I. (2016). Investigating the Effect of Changing the Working Fluid on the Three-Dimensional Flow Within Organic Rankine Cycle Turbines. ASME Turbo Expo 2016: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition 13-17 June.
  • Al Zaili, J. and Sayma, A. (2016). Challenges in the Development of Micro Gas Turbines for Concentrated Solar Power Systems.
  • Li, Y.-.L. and Sayma, A. (2014). Numerical Investigation of VSVs Mal-Schedule Effects in a Three-Stage Axial Compressor. ASME Turbo Expo 2014: Turbine Technical Conference and Exposition 16-20 June.
  • Nucara, P. and Sayma, A. (2012). Effects of Using Hydrogen-Rich Syngas in Industrial Gas Turbines While Maintaining Fuel Flexibility on a Multistage Axial Compressor Design. ASME Turbo Expo 2012: Turbine Technical Conference and Exposition 11-15 June.
  • Li, Y. and Sayma, A. (2012). Effects of Blade Damage on the Performance of a Transonic Axial Compressor Rotor. ASME Turbo Expo 2012: Turbine Technical Conference and Exposition 11-15 June.
  • Moghaddam, E.R., Coren, D., Long, C. and Sayma, A. (2011). A numerical investigation of moment coefficient and flow structure in a rotor-stator cavity with rotor mounted bolts.
  • Wang, F., Sayma, A.I., Peng, Z.J. and Huang, Y. (2011). A multi-section droplet combustion model for spray combustion simulation.
  • Nucara, P. and Sayma, A. (2011). Effects of using Hydrogen-rich Syngas in industrial gas turbines while maintaining fuel flexibility on compressor design.
  • Wang, F., Dong, W. and Ji, Y. (2010). Logic deduction agent based distributed parallel test platform on hardware-in-the-loop simulation system. the 2010 Spring Simulation Multiconference 11-15 April.
  • Bohari, B. and Sayma, A. (2010). CFD analysis of effects of damage due to bird strike on fan performance.
  • Wang, F., Leboeuf, F., Huang, Y., Zhou, L.X. and Sayma, A.I. (2010). An algebraic sub-grid scale turbulent combustion model.
  • Swalen, M.J.P., Koenig, C.S., Sayma, A.I. and Khir, A.W. (2010). CFD MODELLING OF A BI-DIRECTIONAL AXIAL FLOW LVAD.
  • Patel, K.N., Koenig, C.S., Sayma, A.I. and Khir, A.W. (2009). TRANSIENT BEHAVIOR OF DIFFERENT IMPELLER DESIGN OF A PULSATILE AXIAL FLOW LVAD: A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY.
  • Swalen, M.J.P., Koenig, C.S., Sayma, A.I. and Khir, A.W. (2009). COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF A NOVEL AXIAL FLOW PUMP AS LVAD.
  • Swalen, M.J.P., Koenig, C.S., Sayma, A.I. and Khir, A.W. (2008). DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL VENTRICULAR ASSIST DEVICE (VAD).
  • Sayma, A.I. (2007). Steady-flow analysis of low pressure compression system for turbofan engines.
  • Sladojević, I., Sayma, A.I. and Imregun, M. (2007). Influence of stagger angle variation on aerodynamic damping and frequency shifts.
  • Sayma, A.I., Vahdti, M., Imregun, M. and Marshal, J. (2007). Low-pressure compression system effects on fan assembly forced response.
  • Saiz, G., Imregun, M. and Sayma, A.I. (2006). A multi blade-row linearised analysis method for flutter and forced response predictions in turbomachinery.
  • Sladojević, I., Petrov, E.P., Imregun, M. and Sayma, A.I. (2006). Forced response variation of aerodynamically and structurally mistuned turbo-machinery rotors.
  • Wilson, M.J., Imregun, M. and Sayma, A.I. (2006). The effect of stagger variability in gas turbine fan assemblies.
  • Di Mare, L., Simpson, G. and Sayma, A.I. (2006). Fan forced response due to ground vortex ingestion.
  • Di Mare, L., Simpson, G., Mueck, B. and Sayma, A.I. (2006). Effect of bleed flows on flutter and forced response of core compressors.
  • Di Mare, L., Sayma, A.I., Coupland, J. and Imregun, M. (2005). Acoustic liner models in a general purpose CFD code.
  • Wilson, M.J., Imregun, M. and Sayma, A.I. (2005). The effect of stagger variability in gas turbine fan assemblies.
  • Sladojević, J., Petrov, E.P., Sayma, A.I., Imregun, M. and Green, J.S. (2005). Investigation of the influence of aerodynamic coupling on response levels of mistuned bladed DISCS with weak structural coupling.
  • Wu, X., Sayma, A.I., Vahdati, W. and Imregun, M. (2004). Computational techniques for aeroelasticity and aero-acoustic analyses of aero-engine fan assemblies.
  • Cand, M., Sayma, A.I. and Imregun, M. (2004). 3-Dimensional noise propagation using a Cartesian grid.
  • Wu, X., Vahdati, M., Sayma, A.I. and Imregun, M. (2003). A numerical investigation of aeroacoustic fan blade flutter.
  • Bréard, C., Sayma, A., Imregun, M., Wilson, A.G. and Tester, B.J. (2001). A CFD-based non-linear model for the prediction of tone noise in lined ducts.
  • Breard, C., Sayma, A., Imregun, M., Wilson, A. and Tester, B. (2001). A CFD-based non-linear model for the prediction of tone noise in lined ducts. 7th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference and Exhibit.
  • Bréard, C., Vahdati, M., Sayma, A.I. and Imregun, M. (2000). An Integrated Time-Domain Aeroelasticity Model for the Prediction of Fan Forced Response Due to Inlet Distortion. ASME Turbo Expo 2000: Power for Land, Sea, and Air 8-11 May.
  • Bréard, C., Imregun, M., Sayma, A. and Vahdati, M. (1999). Flutter stability analysis of a complete fan assembly.
  • Bréard, C., Imregun, M., Sayma, A. and Vahdati, M. (1999). Flutter stability analysis of a complete fan assembly.
  • Vahdati, M., Sayma, A. and Imregun, M. (1998). Prediction of high and low engine order forced responses for an LP turbine blade.
  • Sayma, A.I., Vahdati, M. and Imregun, M. (1998). Forced response analysis of an intermediate pressure turbine using a nonlinear aeroelasticity model.
  • Betts, P.L. and Sayma, A.I. (1992). On the suppression of pressure checkerboarding with bilinear-constant mixed interpolation.

Journal articles (53)

Patents (3)

  • Simpson, G. (2008). Design of vanes for exposure to Vibration Loading. Patent no. US7909580 B2
  • Vahdati, M. and Sayma, A. (2008). METHOD OF MODELING THE ROTATING STALL OF A GAS TURBINE ENGINE. Patent no. US 7,643,975 B2
  • Al-Zaili, J. and Sayma, A. Modular thermal energy storage apparatus. Patent no. GB2576088