Profile

Prof Carl Sangan is the Professor of Sustainable Propulsion and Power, Director of Research for the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a Deputy-Director of the IAAPS Research Institute.

His research area is gas turbine engineering, with a particular interest in experimental and theoretical modelling of the flow and heat transfer in rotating disc systems.

Carl obtained an MEng (Hons) in Aerospace Engineering, followed by a PhD in the field of turbomachinery. On graduation he continued as a post-doctoral researcher, before being awarded the University Prize Fellowship in Gas Turbine Engineering in 2012. Carl became a lecturer at the University in 2014, Senior Lecturer in 2017, Reader in 2020 and Professor in 2022.

Research

Carl's current research focuses on improving the efficiency of gas turbines for power generation and aerospace engines. He currently leads research programmes involving the application of optical methods to enhance understanding of the interaction mechanisms between gas turbine cooling systems and the mainstream gas-path.

Although predominantly funded by EPSRC, much of his work is closely linked to Siemens and Safran Aircraft Engines, where modelling approaches developed from the work are being integrated directly within the design methodology employed at the companies.

Areas of interest across the broader theme of turbomachinery include:

• modelling of hot-gas ingestion through turbine rim seals
• mainstream gas-path aerodynamics and the interaction with the secondary air system
• heat transfer in compressor cavities
• development of novel shaft sealing technologies
• film cooling of turbine blades
• cooled radial turbomachinery

Awards and prizes

• 2011 ASME IGTI Heat Transfer Committee Best Paper Award (GT2011-45310)
• 2016 ASME IGTI Dilip R. Ballal Award
• 2016 University of Bath John Willis Award for Teaching
• 2018 ASME IGTI Heat Transfer Committee Best Paper Award (GT2018-75071)
• 2020 Appointed as an ASME Fellow
• 2021 ASME IGTI Turbomachinery Committee Best Paper Award (GT2021-59701)
• 2022 University of Bath Mary Tasker Award for Teaching

Interested in supervising students studying:

• Gas turbine technologies
• Fluid dynamics and heat transfer
• Rotating systems
• Thermal imaging techniques