Education background
2009.9-2015.1: Ph.D., Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University
2011.3-2012.3: Visiting student researcher, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
2005.8-2009.7: B.E., Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University
Working Experience
2021.12-now: Associate Professor, Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University
2020.2-2021.11: Assistant Professor, Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University
2017.1-2020.1: Research Assistant Professor, Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University
2015.2-2017.1: Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Centre for Energy, The University of Western Australia
Concurrent Academic
ISO/TC22/SC41/JWG5 Working Group Expert
Social service
Vice Dean of Xingjian College, Tsinghua University
Director of the Combustion Technology and Equipment Research Center of Shanxi Research Institute for Clean Energy, Tsinghua University
Areas of Research Interests/ Research Projects
1 Fundamentals of Renewable Fuel Combustion Characteristics
1.1 Combustion Characteristics of Renewable Zero-Carbon/Low-Carbon Fuels
1.2 Combustion Characteristics and Prediction Methods for Multi-Component Blended Fuels
1.3 Clean and Efficient Production Technologies for Electrofuels (e-fuels)
1.4 Standardization Technologies for Renewable Fuel Properties
2 Clean and Efficient Combustion Organization for Renewable Fuels
2.1 Combustion Stability Under Special and Near-Limit Conditions
2.2 Combustion Pollutant Control Strategies and Methods
2.3 Combustion Simulation and Turbulent Combustion Model Development
2.4 Combustor Technology Development and Equipment Design
3 Optimization and Regulation of Renewable Fuel Combustion Systems
3.1 Combustion/Co-firing Technologies and Equipment for Renewable Fuels
3.2 High-Flexibility Combustion Systems Integrated with Energy Storage
3.3 High Add-Value Combustion Products Regulation
3.4 AI-Assisted System Optimization and Operational Control
Teaching
2025 to present: undergraduate course “Freshman Seminar of Xingjian College”, 16 hours, in Chinese.
2023 to present: undergraduate course “Energy Storage: Theory and Technology”, 32 hours, in Chinese.
2022 to present: undergraduate course “Low-Carbon Energy and Advanced Power Innovation Practice”, 16 hours, in Chinese.
2019 to present: postgraduate course “Combustion II” Part I Gas/liquid fuel combustion and Part III New Concept Combustion, 32 hours, in English.
2019 – 2013: undergraduate course “Energy Storage Technology”, 32 hours, in Chinese.
Research Status
As a CI, Associate Professor Yang Zhang has secured over RMB 40 million research funding. The following is a summary of 10 selected projects where he was leading chief investigator.
1. Combustion mechanism of hydrogen / ammonia blended coal and its regulation, supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under the scheme of Industrial Linkage Program – Key Supported Project, 2025 – 2028, RMB 2.5 million.
2. Key monitoring technologies for energy conservation and emissions reduction of circulation fluidised bed, supported by the Ministry of Science & Technology under the scheme of National Key R&D Program of China, 2018 – 2021, RMB 10.48 million.
3. Advanced purification technology for sintering flue gas: R&D and industrial demonstration, supported by Taiyuan Municipal Bureau of Science & Technology under the scheme of “Unveiling the List and Taking the Lead” program, 2023 – 2026, RMB 15 million.
4. Combustion of ultra-low-specific-energy industrial syngas: R&D and demonstration, supported by Department of Science and Technology of Shanxi Province, 2023 – 2026, RMB 6 million.
5. Fundamental research on hydrogen/oxygen/ammonia co-firing assisted deep peak shaving technology for coal-fired power units, supported by China Shenhua Group, RMB 4.5 million.
6. Ammonia blended natural gas combustion technology research and development, supported by Sinopec group, RMB 1.5 million.
7. Dynamics and product conditioning of self-stabilised cool flame for Fuel2X, Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2022 – 2025, RMB 580,000.
8. Combustion control of process burners under complex operation condition, Supported by the Ministry of Science & Technology under the scheme of National Key R&D Program of China, 2021 – 2025, RMB 1 million.
9. Heat transfer and flow characteristics inside the radiative waste heat boiler of gasifier fuelled with coal-water slurry, Supported by the Ministry of Science & Technology under the scheme of National Key R&D Program of China, 2017 – 2021, RMB 974,700.
10.Experimental study and mechanism analysis on the flammability limit of hydrogen enriched natural gas, Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2018 – 2020, RMB 240,000.
Honors And Awards
2024: Best Presentation Award of the 16th International Green Energy Conference
2024: Best Paper Award of the 3rd International Symposium on Ammonia Energy
2023: Gold Medal at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva
2023: Best Paper Award of the 10th International Symposium on Coal Combustion
2022: Gold Medal of the 2nd International Invention and Innovation Competition for IFIA INV Members
2019: Best Oral Presentation of International Conference on Boilers and Heat Exchangers
2015: Springer Nature – Outstanding Thesis Award
2015: Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation of Tsinghua University
Academic Achievement
Associate Professor Yang Zhang has published ~ 150 journal papers and is the inventor of ~ 60 Chinese patents.
Book:
Yang Zhang, "Propagation and Extinction Studies of Laminar Lean Premixed Syngas/Air Flames." Springer Nature (2018). ISBN: 978-981-10-4614-8 (Print) 978-981-10-4615-5 (Online)
Book Chapter:
Hai Zhang, Bing Liu, Yang Zhang, Qing Liu, Cheng Zuo, Jialun Chen, Yu Qiao, Minghou Xu. Experimental Study on Coal Combustion at Microgravity [M]//HU W, KANG Q. Physical Science Under Microgravity: Experiments on Board the SJ-10 Recoverable Satellite. Singapore; Springer Singapore. 2019: 263-301.
Peer Reviewed Journal Paper:
Refer to Tsinghua University Scholar：https://thurid.lib.tsinghua.edu.cn/scholar/5996208
