Peter Walsh

Dr. Peter M. Walsh joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UAB in 2002. His research interests CO2 storage, CO2 EOR, and control of stack plume opacity and mercury emissions from coal-fired boiler furnaces. Dr. Walsh attended Robert College, in Istanbul, Wesleyan University, and Cornell University, where he studied molecular energy transfer in gases, graduating in 1977 with a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. From 1977 to 1980 he was a member of the research staff in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, working on catalytic combustion of coal-derived synthetic fuel gases for application to stationary gas turbines. In 1980 he joined the Energy Laboratory at MIT, investigating fluidized bed combustion of coal and oil shale, spray combustion of coal-water fuel and residual fuel oil, and suspension firing of pulverized coal for the electric utility industry. From 1989 to 1994 he was a member of the faculty in the Fuel Science Program at Penn State University, where he studied vaporization of metals during combustion of chars and cokes and erosion-corrosion of heat transfer surface by fly ash. In 1994 he moved to GE-EER as Senior Scientist assigned to the Burner Engineering Research Laboratory at Sandia National Laboratories, in Livermore, CA, then joined Sandia in 1997 to work on characterization and control of particulate matter from combustion systems, using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy to measure metallic elements in particulate matter in the exhaust from stationary combustion sources. At UAB, Dr. Walsh teaches courses in heat transfer, combustion, and statistical mechanics. In February of this year he was a recipient of the UAB President's award for excellence in teaching.