Welcome to FTRL
The Fire and Thermal Research Laboratory (FTRL) at IIT Dharwad is emerging to facilitate studies on open and compartment pool fires both experimentally and numerically, and also heat transfer investigations like jet impingement cooling and e-vehicle battery cooling. Some of the major focuses in this fire research laboratory are to establish innovative techniques for measuring different parameters in stand-alone and multiple pool fires. One of the major focuss in the thermal research laboratory are jet impingement, and battery thermal management.
Explore Our Research🎥 Laboratory Showcase Video
Watch our state-of-the-art facilities and ongoing research in action
🔥 Fire Experiments
Live pool fire testing
⚗️ Lab Facilities
State-of-the-art equipment
👥 Team at Work
Students and researchers
📊 Research Impact
Real-world applications
🔥 Pool Fire Research
Experimental and numerical studies on single and multiple pool fires, flame characteristics, and heat transfer mechanisms.
🌡️ Thermal Management
Advanced cooling techniques including jet impingement and battery thermal management for e-vehicles.
🤖 Fire Safety AI
Application of AI and machine learning in fire safety engineering and thermal analysis.
Research Areas
Pool Fire Dynamics
- Single and multiple pool fires
- Flame height correlations
- Heat transfer mechanisms
- Thermal radiation studies
Jet Impingement Cooling
- Multiple air jet impingement
- Heat transfer coefficients
- Jet plate thickness effects
- Industrial applications
Battery Thermal Management
- E-vehicle battery cooling
- Thermal management systems
- Heat dissipation studies
- Safety applications
Fire Safety Engineering
- Evacuation modeling
- Fire retardant materials
- Intumescent coatings
- Building fire safety
AI in Fire Research
- Machine learning applications
- Thermal imagery analysis
- Fire prediction models
Numerical Simulations
- Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS)
- CFD modeling
- Large Eddy Simulations
- OpenFOAM applications
Our Research Team
Dr. Sudheer Siddapureddy
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering
ContactCurrent Team
Dr. Naveen Kumar
Institute Post-Doctoral Fellowship (iPDF)
CFD, Turbulence, Combustion
Heena Ismail Shaikh
PhD Student
Jet Impingement Studies
Vikas R
PhD Student
Multiple Pool Fires
Surendra
Master Student
Ongoing Research
Alumni - Recent Graduates
Dr. Bathina Siva Kumar
PhD Graduated (2023)
Double Pool Fires Research
Arun Pattanashetti
PhD Graduated (2025)
Co-axial Swirling Jets
Current Interns
Aadhi Shankar R S
Cancer Diagnosis using Thermal Imagery
AI & Medical Applications
Mareddy Naveen Kumar Reddy
Battery Thermal Management
E-Vehicle Applications
Dhananjay Patel
AI and ML in Fire Safety
Machine Learning Applications
Ajay Kumar Juvvala
Numerical Studies on Bioreactors
Computational Studies
Undergraduate Projects
Tamminaina Syam Kumar
Fire Rescue Drone
B.Tech Project
Ujjawal Nirwan
Battery Thermal Management
B.Tech Project
Manindra Singh Rathore
Battery Thermal Management
B.Tech Project
Vikas Kumawat
Battery Thermal Management
B.Tech Project
Publications
Explore our latest research contributions in fire safety and thermal engineering.
Recent Selected Journal Publications
Flow modelling of a rocket nozzle using hydrogen and methane propellants
Authors: Naveen Kumar and Sudheer S
Journal: Advances in Space Research, 2025
This study focuses on the flow modeling of high-area ratio (HAR) rocket nozzles, which are essential for achieving high-speed propulsion.
Experimental Investigation of Flame Height and Air Entrainment of n-heptane Double Open Pool Fires
Authors: Siva KB and Sudheer S
Journal: Experimental Heat Transfer, 2024
Study on flame characteristics and thermal radiation in double pool fire configurations.
Measurement of Local Nusselt Number and Local Recovery Factor for Impinging Multiple Compressible Jets
Authors: Heena IS, Sudheer S, and Prabhu SV
Journal: Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 2025
In this experimental study, he appropriate reference temperature is identified for the compressible impinging jet.
Experimental Investigation of Flame Height and Air Entrainment of n-Heptane Double Open Pool Fires
Authors: Siva KB and Sudheer S
Journal: Experimental Heat Transfer, 2022
Comprehensive study on flame dynamics in multiple pool fire scenarios.
Heat Transfer to Bodies Engulfed in Di-tert-butyl Peroxide Pool Fires - Numerical Simulations
Authors: Sudheer S, Klaus-Dieter Wehrstedt and Prabhu SV
Journal: Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 2016
Numerical investigation of heat transfer mechanisms in hazardous chemical fires.
Patent
Design of a Probe for Measuring Radiative Heat Flux of Combustion Systems
Inventors: S.V. Prabhu, S. Kumar, V.M. Reddy and S. Sudheer
Application Number: 3368/MUM/2012
Innovative probe design for accurate measurement of thermal radiation in fire environments.
Laboratory Facilities
State-of-the-art equipment and facilities for fire and thermal research.
🔥 Pool Fire Test Facility
- Multiple pool fire setups
- Various fuel types capability
- Temperature measurement systems
- Infrared thermography
📊 Data Acquisition Systems
- High-speed temperature logging
- Multi-channel data recording
- Real-time monitoring systems
🌡️ Heat Transfer Equipment
- Jet impingement test setup
- Heat flux measurement devices
- Thermal imaging systems
💻 Computational Resources
- High-performance computing cluster
- CFD software licenses
- Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS)
- MATLAB and specialized tools
🔬 Material Testing
- Conical heater
- Fire retardant testing
- Material characterization
- Thermal property measurement
SPROUTS Experiments
Specialized Pool fire Research and Outstanding Undergraduate Training Setup
Our SPROUTS facility enables comprehensive experimental studies on pool fires with advanced measurement techniques and safety protocols.
Contact Information
Get in touch for collaborations, research opportunities, or academic inquiries.
sudheer@iitdh.ac.in
📞 Phone
+91 836 2309658
🏢 Office
Department of Mechanical Engineering
IIT Dharwad
📍 Address
Indian Institute of Technology Dharwad
Dharwad, Karnataka, India - 580011
Research Interests & Collaborations
Student Opportunities
We welcome undergraduate and graduate students interested in fire safety research, thermal engineering, and computational studies.
Industry Collaboration
Open to partnerships with industry for applied research in fire safety, thermal management, and product development.
Academic Exchange
Interested in collaborations with other research institutions and participation in joint research projects.