Hydrogen, Energy & Combustion Systems Laboratory
HECS IITG School of Energy Science and Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati ↗
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
HECS IITG

Join HECS

HECS is recruiting its first cohort of student researchers.

How to apply

For a research enquiry, contact Dr. Kumar with your programme, the project that interests you and a research question you would like to investigate.

For graduate admission, check the eligibility criteria and deadlines in the current call and apply through IIT Guwahati admissions.

Indicative first-cohort projects

Student research projects

Project scope depends on the student’s background and available funding.

Project 01 · PhD or M.Tech/MS(R)

When does a hydrogen leak stop behaving like a jet?

The question
An accidental hydrogen release starts as an under-expanded momentum-driven jet and ends as a buoyant plume steered by ventilation or wind. Where that transition happens decides where the flammable envelope sits — and therefore where a sensor has to be to catch it in time. Current guidance treats the regimes separately.
Year one
Build and validate a CFD case for a compressible hydrogen release against published jet data; map the transition across release pressure, orifice size and crosswind; identify the dimensionless grouping that predicts it.
You would learn
Compressible and buoyant flow modelling, species transport, mesh and AMR strategy for near-field jets, and systematic verification and validation.
Good fit if
You are comfortable with fluid mechanics and want to do computation properly — not just run a solver.
Project 02 · PhD

Making ammonia and hydrogen burn stably together

The question
Ammonia is attractive to store and awful to ignite; hydrogen is the reverse. Blending them is the obvious move, but the blend that ignites reliably and the blend that keeps NOx down are not the same blend. The trade-off is not yet well characterised at engine-relevant conditions.
Year one
Chemical-kinetic analysis of ignition delay and laminar flame speed across blend ratio, pressure and temperature; then constant-volume chamber experiments on flame-kernel growth as the chamber capability comes online.
You would learn
Combustion chemistry and mechanism handling, ignition and flame-propagation measurement, high-speed and Schlieren imaging, emissions analysis.
Good fit if
You want both sides — the kinetics and the hardware — rather than only one.
Project 03 · PhD or M.Tech/MS(R)

Ignition systems that can keep up with low-carbon fuels

The question
Conventional spark ignition was designed around gasoline. Hydrogen pre-ignites; ammonia barely lights. Pre-chamber and multi-point ignition both change the earliest milliseconds of the event, and those milliseconds set everything that follows. Which concept suits which fuel, and why, is still largely empirical.
Year one
Characterise flame-kernel development under conventional spark versus pre-chamber ignition for a chosen fuel, in a controlled chamber; connect kernel behaviour to the subsequent pressure trace and to a reduced model that a designer could actually use.
You would learn
Optical diagnostics, ignition-system instrumentation, high-speed image processing, and reduced-order model building from experimental data.
Good fit if
You like careful experiments and are prepared to build the measurement, not just take it.
These briefs are research directions for a laboratory now being established. They are not advertisements of sanctioned positions or of awarded funding — formal openings will be announced through IIT Guwahati and listed on News.
Routes in

Programme options

PhD

Doctoral research

Best suited to candidates with strong fundamentals in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, combustion, numerical methods or experiments. Admission is through the institute's PhD cycle.

HydrogenCombustionCFD
M.Tech/MS(R)

Research master's

Focused projects with substantial modelling or experimental depth, within the School's MS by Research programme. A common route into a PhD.

TransportEnergySafety
Undergraduate research

Short-term B.Tech projects

Curious and ambitious B.Tech students in any year, from first year through final year, are welcome at HECS for short-term research projects. You could analyse experimental data, model a fluid flow or help design an experiment.

Contact the PI with your year of study, a topic you would like to explore and how much time you can commit.

Funding & eligibility

Admissions and funding

Is the PhD funded?

Full-time PhD students at IIT Guwahati are normally supported through an institute assistantship, subject to eligibility and the institute's current rules. Project-funded positions may also open as sponsored research begins. Exact eligibility, amounts and duration are set by the institute, not by the lab — check the official pages before applying.

IITG admissions Doctoral programmes

What about PMRF?

The Prime Minister's Research Fellowship is a separate, competitive national route with its own eligibility and deadlines, and is open to strong candidates at IITG. If you are considering it, say so in your first email — the preparation timeline is longer than a normal application.

PMRF

Do I need prior hydrogen or CFD experience?

No. Fundamentals, evidence that you can learn something difficult on your own, and clear technical writing matter more. Coding ability helps in every project here. Experimental discipline is teachable; carelessness is not.

When should I apply?

IIT Guwahati runs its PhD admissions in cycles with dates set by the institute — check the admissions page for the current advertisement. Contact the PI ahead of the admissions cycle you are targeting.

School of Energy Science & Engineering
What HECS values

Fundamentals, ownership and reproducibility.

A strong application does not require prior hydrogen research. It should show that you can learn deeply, work carefully and explain why a problem matters.

Physics-first thinking Clear technical writing Coding / data skills Experimental discipline
When contacting the PI

Send a concise research-focused message.

1 · BackgroundDegree, institute and strongest technical courses
2 · EvidenceProject, thesis, code, experiment or publication you actually did
3 · FitWhich project above interests you, and why
4 · MaterialsCV + transcript; optional one-page research note

Subject line: PhD / M.Tech / MS(R) / B.Tech enquiry — Project 0X. It gets read faster.

Formal admissions and eligibility are governed by IIT Guwahati and the School of Energy Science and Engineering. Always follow the institute's current admission advertisement and rules.
Ready to write?

Name a project and tell us what you would do first.

A targeted message about a specific research question is far more useful — to you and to us — than a general request for a position.

Contact HECS →